Insights & Resources

Garfunkel Wild’s Stacey L. Gulick and Kathleen M. Brown will present the webinar “The Brave New World of Telehealth Post COVID – What You Need to Know ” on December 12, 2024, from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET.

This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) fulfilled its annual statutory obligation by releasing its 2024 Top Management and Performance Challenges Report (the “Report”). Historically, the Report has not attracted widespread interest in the provider community because it largely focuses on HHS operational challenges. Importantly for providers and other stakeholders, however, the Report reveals crucial insights about compliance priorities for the year ahead.

Many employers across the country were facing difficult staffing decisions surrounding a 2024 U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) regulation that increased minimum salary requirements for thousands of employees. On November 15, 2024, a Texas Federal Court (the “Court”) vacated and set aside a 2024 rule promulgated by the DOL that increased the minimum salary threshold for certain “white collar” exempt employees (the “2024 Rule”). The Court’s ruling affects the increases nationally and restores the minimum salary threshold to the previous minimum established under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have jointly issued a third emergency extension allowing health care practitioners to prescribe Schedule II-V controlled substances via audio-video telemedicine encounters without an initial in-person evaluation. This extension, effective from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, also provides the DEA with additional time to finalize permanent regulations for prescribing controlled substances through telemedicine.

Elisabeth A. Pimentel will present the session “Understanding and Effectively Negotiating Your Physician Employment Agreement” at the New York State Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2024 Annual Meeting & Symposium.

Here is an overview of certain estate and gift tax rules currently in effect, the changes on the horizon, and ways you can save estate taxes for your family.

Garfunkel Wild’s 11th Annual ASC and Health Care Management Virtual Symposium is dedicated to the most important business, legal, clinical, and operational issues facing the ASC and health care management community.

In honor of National Estate Planning Awareness Month, Garfunkel Wild, P.C. wants to remind you of the importance of creating and maintaining an estate plan.  Below we provide an overview of the Revocable Trust, an essential part of any estate plan.

On October 18, 2024, the New York State Department of Health issued guidance pausing implementation of Public Health Law §18-c, a new law that prohibits providers from obtaining a patient’s consent to pay for any health care service prior to the patient receiving the service.

Garfunkel Wild’s Colleen Pierson will present at the New York State Bar Association’s Health Law Section Fall Meeting 2024 , on October 21, 2024.

On October 12, 2024, the New York State Department of Health (“DOH”) published the final cybersecurity regulations for general hospitals (the “Regulations”), with some provisions effective immediately.

Andrew Zwerling and Marianne Monroy will co-present “Best Practices for Enhancing Employee Engagement and Minimizing Risk and Liability” at the Westchester County Medical Society’s CME Webinar.

Andrew E. Blustein and Kathleen M. Brown will present “Compliance and Governance: Maintaining Operational Excellence for FQHCs” at the 2024 New Jersey Primary Care Association (“NJPCA”) Annual Conference, on October 10th. 

Garfunkel Wild’s Sean Leyden will co-present “How to Save Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars on Your Medical Practice Lease or Purchase” at the Fairfield County Medical Association and Hartford County Medical Association’s Webinar on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

Garfunkel Wild will be a sponsor at Curalta Foot + Ankle‘s 2nd Annual Management and Educational Conference.

Garfunkel Wild will be a sponsor at the 2024 Innovations in Value-Based Care Conference, sponsored by Healthix and Helgerson Solutions Group.

NYS Public Health Law 18-c, a new law set to become effective on October 20, 2024, will prohibit providers from obtaining a patient’s consent to pay for any health care services prior to the patient receiving services.

Garfunkel Wild’s David Traskey will present “Hospice Compliance Trends and an Inside Look at HHS-OIG” at the Hospice & Palliative Care Network of Maryland Annual Conference.

The cybersecurity attack on Change Healthcare (“Change”), a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group, has caused widespread disruption, impacting health care providers and individuals whose personal data was compromised. This breach has led to numerous class action lawsuits, divided into two main groups: providers affected by the claims processing shutdown and individuals whose data was leaked. In June 2024, approximately 50 lawsuits were centralized into a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in federal court in Minnesota. On September 17, 2024, the first conference in the matter occurred. As the litigation progresses, motions to dismiss, potential mediation, and class certification are expected to shape the case.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (the “OIG”) posted an unfavorable Advisory Opinion (24-08) prohibiting a Corporation offering Medicare Advantage (“MA”), MA-Prescription Drug (“PD”), and MA/MA-PD Employer Group Waiver Plans (“EGWPs”) from sharing a percentage of its savings with its covered groups via a gainshare payment (“Payment”).