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Hall Render

Latest from Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. Blog

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Federal courts are showing diminishing tolerance for perpetual False Claims Act (“FCA”) litigation. Years-long seal periods, one-sided discovery and serial amendments are wearing thin. The Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in United States ex rel. Gentry v. Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Pearland, L.L.C., 157 F.4th 758 (5th Cir. 2025) (“Gentry“) reflects this shift and offers a blueprint for courts confronting repeated motions to amend.
The Gentry Decision
In Gentry, a terminated sales representative (the “Relator”) sued Encompass Health Rehabilitation…
Continue Reading Federal Courts Signal Frustration with Perpetual FCA Litigation

  • Kaiser Permanente recently purchased seven acres near downtown Atlanta for $31.5M. Kaiser plans to solicit community feedback before determining what type of medical facility to construct at the site. The announcement follows Atrium Health’s 2024 purchase of 40 acres in downtown Atlanta.
  • Colliers recently published a report on challenges faced by rural hospitals. The report said small rural hospitals (under $40M in annual expenditures) comprise 25% of U.S. short-term general hospitals but receive less than 3% of hospital spending.

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing

    The Indiana Court of Appeals (the “Court”) recently affirmed a trial court’s finding of grave disability, reiterating two settled principles: (1) no single fact can establish grave disability; and (2) courts must evaluate the totality of the circumstances. The Court also confirmed that past conduct with a nexus to the patient’s current condition may have evidentiary value. In re: Civil Commitment of K.M., 270 N.E.3d 506 (Ind. Ct. App. 2025).
    Background
    K.M., who has a documented history of mental…
    Continue Reading Indiana Court of Appeals Reaffirms Holistic Approach to Grave Disability Determinations

    On February 3, 2026, after years of false starts, federal regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) became reality when the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Trump. For the first time, the Act imposes federal requirements on PBMs related to compensation, transparency, reporting and other matters to be addressed via contracting requirements between PBMs and plan sponsors. This landmark piece of federal legislation follows years of increased state regulation of PBMs, and has…
    Continue Reading Federal PBM Reform Is Here: Unpacking Key Provisions of the Landmark Legislation

    On February 2, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a new guidance letter (“February 2 Letter”) regarding state directed payments (“SDPs”) as governed by Section 71116 of Public Law 119-21 (which CMS refers to as the “Working Families Tax Cuts” or “WFTC legislation”). Per CMS, its previous September 9, 2025, guidance letter (“September 9 Letter”) has been rescinded.

    The February 2 Letter largely repeats everything in the September 9 Letter. For example, the preprint-related criteria…
    Continue Reading CMS Issues New Guidance Letter for State Directed Payments

    On February 2, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final rule, effective April 3, 2026, that targets a perceived “loophole” in the current regulatory statistical test applied to State proposals for health care-related tax waivers. The test is intended to make certain that non-uniform or non-broad-based health care-related taxes, authorized under a waiver granted by CMS, are “generally redistributive.” CMS claims the loophole impermissibly allowed some health care-related taxes to be imposed at…
    Continue Reading CMS Issues Health Care-Related Tax Final Rule

    The upcoming National Resident Matching Program is expected to be affected by several recent immigration-related developments under the Trump administration that employers should incorporate into their match planning strategy, including nationality-based travel restrictions, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) adjudication pause and the $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions filed on behalf of candidates who are outside of the United States. Employers should begin preparing early to evaluate risk in the current evolving immigration landscape.
    Nationality-Based Travel Restrictions…
    Continue Reading Key Considerations for the Upcoming National Resident Matching Program

    Hall Render’s Real Estate team frequently works with owners, operators and developers of specialty hospitals. One of our favorite types of specialty hospitals is the inpatient rehabilitation facility (“IRF”). Below is a summary of five things you should know about the IRF sector.

  • Treatment – IRFs are designed to provide inpatient rehabilitation services to patients recovering from a stroke, brain injury or orthopedic surgery. Patients are often admitted to a short-term acute care hospital (“STACH”) and discharged to an

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: Five Things to Know about Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities

    On January 30, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a proposed rule that would substantially revise portions of the Conditions for Coverage for Organ Procurement Organizations (“OPOs”) (the “Proposed Rule”). According to CMS, the Proposed Rule is characterized as building on changes in the 2020 OPO Conditions for Coverage rule aimed at increasing accountability, clarifying and strengthening re-certification standards and reinforcing public trust in organ procurement and allocation practices, and in doing so is intended…
    Continue Reading Proposed OPO Rule Signals Broad Operational and Compliance Changes Across the Donation and Transplantation System

    On July 4, 2025, Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”), a statute that, while primarily tax-focused, has meaningful downstream implications for wage administration and employer-provided benefits. Although the OBBBA does not amend core federal employment statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), Title VII or the Family and Medical Leave Act, several provisions directly affect how compensation and leave benefits are structured and reported. For health care employers that often rely on complex pay…
    Continue Reading The Effects of the OBBBA on Your 2026 Employee Handbook

    On January 16, 2026, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it recovered a record-breaking $6.8 billion in False Claims Act (“FCA”) related settlements and judgments in the 2025 fiscal year. The 2025 recovery amount more than doubles the previous year’s recovery of $2.9 billion and marks the highest recovery in a single year since the FCA was enacted. The amount of whistleblower claims continued to rise, with 1,297 qui tam complaints filed in 2025. Health care fraud remained…
    Continue Reading DOJ Recouped $6.8 Billion Under FCA in 2025

    In a recent decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals (the “Court”) upheld a trial court’s Order for Temporary Commitment and affirmed a new mootness standard for civil commitment appeals. In re Commitment of J.F., 266 N.E.3d 268 (Ind. Ct. App. 2025).
    Background
    The Indiana Court of Appeals reaffirmed its standard for what evidence is required to support an order for a regular commitment of a patient. See In re Commitment of J.F., 266 N.E.3d 268, (Ind. Ct. App. 2025).
    Continue Reading Indiana Court of Appeals Reaffirms Evidence Standard for Extensions of Commitment

    Congress’s fiscal year 2026 health care appropriations bill introduces a significant new statutory condition of Medicare payment for off-campus hospital outpatient departments. If enacted, effective January 1, 2028, Medicare payment would be prohibited for items and services furnished by an off-campus hospital outpatient department unless two conditions are met: (1) the department has a National Provider Identifier (“NPI”) that is separate from the hospital’s main NPI; and (2) the hospital has submitted the required provider-based status attestation.

    Although framed…
    Continue Reading Legislative Update: Congress Set to Resurrect Separate NPI and Attestation Requirements for Off-Campus Hospital Outpatient Departments

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    On January 21, 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its Semiannual Report to Congress for the six-month period ending September 30, 2025 (“Report”). OIG’s enforcement actions during this period resulted in “the largest health care fraud takedown in the Department of Justice history, involving more than $14.6 billion in intended losses,” and improved the return on investment in OIG to $12.70 in expected recoveries and receivables (money agreed to be…
    Continue Reading OIG Recounts Historic Recovery Numbers in Its Latest Semiannual Report to Congress

    Amendments to the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act (“WTA”) were introduced by HB 3638 and became effective on January 1, 2026. The amendments broaden the scope of protection for employees and impose additional restrictions on employers when drafting contract provisions in a variety of employment-related agreements, including severance, settlement and arbitration agreements. Going forward, Illinois employers will have less latitude to restrict employee speech and concerted activity as it relates to reporting or disclosing unlawful conduct in the workplace.
    Broader…
    Continue Reading What Illinois Employers Need to Know About Changes to the Workplace Transparency Act

  • Kaufman Hall published a summary of health system M&A data from 2025 with some interesting charts. A few highlights: (1) transactions involving a financially distressed party hit 43.5%, almost triple the rate in 2022; (2) correspondingly, the credit rating of the smaller party to the deal hit a record low in 2025; (3) the average size of the financially distressed party, in revenue, was $345M last year, which is about 2.5x larger than the same metric in 2023 (i.e.,

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing, Jan. 23, 2026