Health Care Now! | Blalock Walters Health Care Blog

ACO Regulations Primer – SUMMARY

October 28, 2011

On Thursday, October 20, 2011, the United States Department of Health and Human Services released its final regulations for accountable care organizations (“ACOs”). As you may recall, the primary goals of ACOs are to realize cost savings and improve quality of care by encouraging primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, and other health care providers to [...]

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Controlled Substance Prescribing Practitioner Designation

October 10, 2011

Florida’s new controlled substance prescription drug law went into effect in July. Among other things, the new law requires that any physician who prescribes controlled substance medications to a patient for chronic nonmalignant pain must designate himself or herself as a “controlled substance prescribing practitioner” with the Florida Department of Health (“DOH”) by January 1, [...]

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The Ups and Downs of Health Care Reform – Number 4

September 19, 2011

Author’s Note – Jonathan Fleece Almost overnight, everything changed. I have practiced health care law since 1997, representing health care professionals and institutions of all sorts – including many physicians. In 2009, my law practice transformed itself. Barack Obama had been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States; and soon thereafter, he [...]

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The Ups and Downs of Health Care Reform – Number 3

September 13, 2011

Legal Battles Continue – A federal appellate court in Richmond, Va., on Thursday threw out a pair of cases challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s 2010 health care law. Two of the three judges on the panel volunteered that they would have upheld the health care reform if they had been able to rule on [...]

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Stop, Drop and Re-Enroll

September 7, 2011

By Michael D. Magidson, Esq. Business and Healthcare Attorney Did you know that virtually all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers will be required to re-enroll with Medicare in the next 18 months? A little-noticed provision in the recent health care reform law requires CMS to revalidate the enrollment information for all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers enrolled [...]

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The Ups and Downs of Health Care Reform Number 2

August 30, 2011

Payment Changes A major component of health care reform will be changes to the provider reimbursement and payment system. The goals are to 1) increase the quality of health care and 2) reduce cost (Yes, the two can go together). Below are a few developments in this area. As a health care attorney, it is [...]

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Ups and Downs of Health Care Reform

August 22, 2011

Health Care Reform is THE 2011 TOPIC of debate, confusion, and misinformation amongst many health care providers, physicians, businesses, and citizens. As the co-author of a book related to the future of health care titled “The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America” and as a health care attorney who specializes in [...]

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Controlled Substance Prescription Drug Law Now in Effect! Is Your Practice Prepared

July 8, 2011

On July 1, 2011, Florida’s new controlled substance prescription drug law went into effect. The new law will impact a significant number of Florida physicians, and our clients, as it: (i) regulates the ownership and operation of pain-management clinics; and (ii) requires any physician who prescribes controlled substance medications to a patient for chronic nonmalignant pain [...]

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Challenging Times for Employers…Blalock Walters Can Respond

June 30, 2011

The United States Department of Labor, Wage Hour Division (“DOL”), recently announced that it will focus enforcement efforts on the health care industry. The DOL is responsible for investigating overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and has traditionally targeted low wage industries, i.e., agricultural establishments, restaurants, hotels and janitorial [...]

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The New Health Age: The Future of Health Care in America

June 30, 2011

Have you ever felt “compelled” to do something? That compulsion, that need, that force, was never more intense for me than it was throughout 2010 following the enactment of one of America’s most influential laws in decades – The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., PPACA or Health Care Reform). Health care reform is [...]

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