The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently voted to issue a final rule that would ban nearly all noncompetition agreements. The rule was officially published a few weeks later, meaning it will take effect Sept. 4, 2024 (if it is not held up by a court before then). The final rule has already faced – and will likely continue to face – substantial pushback from the business community and from most health care entities. On July 3, 2024, a federal…
Continue Reading The Impact of the FTC’s Ban on Noncompete Agreements in the Health Care Industry

For the first time in U.S. history,
overdose deaths have exceeded 100,000 per year and one person dies by
suicide every 11 minutes. The U.S. continues to experience a mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) (behavioral health) crisis of unprecedented proportions. In a powerful move, government agencies reunited to collectively address the long-standing challenges to balancing patient behavioral health treatment needs with health plan and insurer fiduciary financial responsibilities to its insured population by proposing a…
Continue Reading The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Future of Behavioral Health Care

For fiscal year 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ)
recouped over $2.68 billion through the enforcement of False Claims Act (FCA) settlements and judgments, a notable increase from
FY 2022’s $2.2 billion recoupment.1 Additionally, over $1.8 billion out of the over $2.68 billion recovered are, according to the report, within the “health care industry, including managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, long-term acute care facilities, and physicians,” which is an increase from FY 2022. As the last…
Continue Reading 2023 Broke Records for False Claims Act Recoveries

It’s spring, and the legislative session is in full swing in Wisconsin – the perfect time to reflect on some atypical aspects of the Wisconsin health law environment. In no particular order, here are our top picks.

There is no automatic surrogate decision maker for a patient who becomes incapacitated.

This is Amy’s top pick because, in her experience, Wisconsin’s lack of a surrogate decision-maker law adds more stress than patient protection to many end-of-life situations.

Much to the…
Continue Reading Four Atypical Aspects of Wisconsin’s Health Law Environment

The pandemic revealed that pharmacists played a critical role in a patient’s health care. It demonstrated that pharmacists are essential to providing the necessary care for patients during a time when accessibility to health care became limited. In Wisconsin, the 2021 Wisconsin Act 98 allows reimbursement for pharmacy-related services rendered to Medicaid patients. The proposed Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 7213), introduced in the House on March 24, 2022, outlines the expansion of reimbursable services…
Continue Reading How Will Expanded Pharmacist Provider Status Impact Our Communities?

On Feb. 15, 2023, the Center for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) published a proposed rule with the goal of increasing transparency between nursing homes and consumers.1

According to the recent Federal Register publication, the proposed rule would implement portions of the Affordable Care Act “which require the disclosure of certain ownership, managerial, and other information regarding Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Medicaid nursing facilities.”2

This is the second time that CMS proposed requiring additional…
Continue Reading CMS Proposes Rule to Increase Nursing Home Ownership Transparency

On April 13, 2023, the White House took the unprecedented step of declaring xylazine-laced fentanyl an official emerging drug threat to the nation. The declaration is to be followed by a focused, 90-day response to this drug combination. While fentanyl is well known and ripe for diversion in health care settings, lesser-known xylazine, also called “tranq,” is a veterinary sedative used illicitly as a low-cost cutting agent to extend a user’s high. New stories accompanying the White House’s announcement…
Continue Reading As Deadliest Opioid Gets ‘Even Deadlier,’ Care Opportunities Emerge

As every licensed attorney in Wisconsin is likely aware, on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. As such, a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion now falls in the hands of each individual state. Abortion law currently varies from state to state, as does the enforcement (or lack thereof) of abortion-related statutes. While the scope and sophistication of state abortion…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Post-Dobbs: Challenges for Health Care Providers (and their Lawyers)