About two-thirds of Georgia hospitals can expect to be fined for excessive Medicare readmissions, according to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal. According to our Georgia business and healthcare law firm’s research, this places Georgia hospitals well above the national average of 54% of hospitals facing similar fines. The fines are imposed by way of reduced Medicare reimbursement rates for those hospitals with excessive readmissions (readmissions within 30 days of discharge).
Medicare fines imposed as penalties against hospitals with too many patients returning in a month’s time for follow-up treatment, are part of healthcare reform. For the past several years, the federal government has promoted a program to reduce Medicare readmissions, for purposes of improving patient treatment outcomes and saving money. The federal readmission penalty program reflects a strong effort to remove a financial incentive to hospitals for readmitting sick patients. A 2013 article referenced an estimate of The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which advises Congress, that 12 percent of Medicare patients may be readmitted for potentially avoidable reasons. “Averting one out of every 10 of those returns could save Medicare $1 billion,” MedPAC says. The readmission penalty program strives to modify hospital behavior by replacing previous financial incentives with financial penalties for avoidable patient readmissions, so that hospital administrators and providers work affirmatively to keep patients healthier and avoid untimely readmissions. Statistics comparing hospital performance as to the readmission reduction program are available on a website maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), called “Hospital Compare.”
Physicians and other healthcare providers and businesses who seek to stay in the center of the court and avoid fraud allegations often inquire of our Georgia business and healthcare law firm about the applicability of STARK (civil statute) or the Federal Anti-kickback (criminal) statute to particular circumstances or transactions. While those laws have great importance and severe penalties for violations, another federal law often warrants review to ensure business is conducted in a legally compliant manner. Many physicians and healthcare businesses have not heard of the “Civil Monetary Penalties” law (CMP), found at 
Recent articles by ProPublica and NPR spotlight the absence of reporting requirements by pharmaceutical companies of their payments to nurse practitioners and physician assistants under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Physician Payment Sunshine Act. The 
This week in a 6 to 3 ruling, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in King versus Burwell, a case brought as a major threat to the viability of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Congress, health providers, Supreme Court and Affordable Care Act watchers and more than 6.4 million consumers who benefit from health coverage assistance in the form of federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had anxiously awaited a ruling in the case following the presentation of oral arguments in March.
In the wake of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), healthcare costs continue to rise both for the average American family and for their employers sponsoring healthcare plans. According to a 
Large financial recoveries are often seen as the principal motivation for the government’s unrelenting efforts to combat healthcare fraud. Perhaps a more important objective of the government’s efforts to combat healthcare fraud, however, is protecting patient safety. Chronic overutilization of healthcare, driven by a fee-for-service system with patient cost covered by a third-party payer (public or private), is not just a financial problem, it is a public health problem. The DOJ’s 
By: Lee H. Little
As Medicare fraud schemes continue to bilk federal taxpayers of 
Hospital systems and other large healthcare providers face increasing risks associated with noncompliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as FMLA litigation is on the rise. According to