This week, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) fulfilled its annual statutory obligation by releasing its jointly-authored Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) Report for Fiscal Year 2022.
In the last few months of 2023, there has been a flurry of legal activity pertaining to the use, disclosure, and protection of health information. Here is a summary of the latest legal initiatives impacting New York providers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision held that while nursing homes have a general obligation to adequately care for their residents, there is no specific requirement that nursing homes use Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement payments in a certain way because such payments are reimbursements for services already provided to residents, and do not contain “forward-looking conditions” on how the funds must be used.
The OIG fulfilled its annual statutory obligation by releasing its Top Management and Performance Challenges (TMC) document. Providers should take note because the document provides important insight into the specific areas over which HHS (and the OIG) will remain focused.
On November 15, 2023, the DOH adopted new regulatory requirements for adult ACFs in an effort to expand resident rights in conformance with the CMS’s HCBS rule final rule. ACFs across the State are now required to allow residents to have visitors at any time, giving them unrestricted access to common areas.