By Emmie Futrell, Class of 2018 Picturing Amazon drones dropping pharmaceuticals from the sky, or Amazon’s Alexa becoming Dr. Alexa, MD, may not be so far-fetched as it sounds. Amazon has reportedly obtained approval for wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least 12 states. They include Nevada, Arizona, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Idaho, …
Belmont Student’s Work Published in Birmingham Medical News
The Practitioner’s Guide to Health Care Law & Policy would like to congratulate two of our own for having their work published in in the Birmingham Medical News. Chase Doscher and Emmie Futrell, along with our friends Patricia Powers and Alexander Mills from Waller, had their article about the Escobar Materiality Standard published in November. …
Veterans Choice Health Care Program Could Run Out of Funding
By William Dodd, Class of 2019 The Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, more commonly known as the Veterans Choice Program, is a U.S. public law that works to expand the number of healthcare options available for eligible veterans. Among many provocations leading up to the creation of the …
CVS and Aetna Merger
By Brandon Huber, Class of 2019 According to the Wall Street Journal, CVS and Aetna are reportedly in serious talks over a potential merger between the two healthcare giants. With the potential buyout price in the ballpark of $70 billion, the deal would not only set the record for the largest merger of any two …
Combatting the Opioid Crisis
By Andy Cole, Class of 2018 Florida Governor Rick Scott announced on September 26, 2017, plans to introduce legislation that would limit opioid prescriptions to only three days unless a set of very strict standards are met. If the standards are met, then a seven day supply would be permitted. Currently, this bill has not …
District Court Upholds First Application of “Escobar Materiality Standard”
By Chase Doscher, Class of 2018; Emmie Futrell, Class of 2018; Alexander H. Mills, Associate at Waller On March 15, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued an opinion in United States ex rel. Emanuele v. Medicor Assocs. applying the materiality standard from Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar to …
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act
By Andy Cole, Class of 2018 The United States House of Representatives voted to approve H.R. 36, Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would ban abortions in the country after 20 weeks of gestation because some scientific studies show that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks. Similar legislation passed in the House …
CHOW Time: Change of Ownership Changes
By Chase Doscher, Class of 2018; Colbey B. Reagan, Partner at Waller; Daniel Patten, Associate at Waller Last April, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a change request making revisions to Chapter 15 (Medicare Enrollment) of the Medicare Program Integrity Manual. Specifically, this change request made significant alterations to Section 15.7.7.1.5 – …
CMS Proposes Change to Joint, Episodic, and Cardiac Rehabilitation Payment Models
By Emmie Futrell, Class of 2018; Patsy Powers, Partner at Waller; Daniel Patten, Associate at Waller On August 17, 2017, CMS published a proposed rule that could bring about significant changes to some of its Innovation Center’s major payment models. Specifically, the Proposed Rule would: reduce the number of mandatory geographic area participants of the Comprehensive Care …
CMS Modernizes Conditions of Participation for Home Health Agencies
By Will Blackford, Class of 2017 On January 13, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published in the Federal Register its Final Rule pertaining to the Conditions of Participation (“CoPs”) for home health agencies (“HHAs”). The rule represents the first modernization in over two decades of the fundamental requirements for HHA participation …