Policy & Compliance

  • April 29, 2025

    Companies Are Increasing Security Coverage For GCs, Execs

    UnitedHealth Group has disclosed it spent nearly $1.9 million on security for its executives and their families in 2024, including over $213,000 for chief legal officer Christopher Zaetta, and a new study shows more corporations are following suit.

  • April 29, 2025

    Opioid MDL Judge Won't Recuse Over Ex Parte Allegations

    An Ohio federal judge will not step aside from multidistrict opioid litigation after the plaintiffs' attorney, who had alleged the judge "regularly communicates" with other lawyers involved in the litigation, testified that there was no such communication after all, the judge ruled Tuesday.

  • April 29, 2025

    BCBS Wants Hospital Sanctioned For 'Cat-And-Mouse' Tactics

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina asked a federal judge to sanction a hospital company and its related entities for their purported "evasion, obfuscation, misdirection and outright misrepresentation" during discovery in a $32 million billing dispute that has gone on for seven years.

  • April 29, 2025

    High Court Backs HHS In Hospital Pay Formula Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with federal health officials in a challenge over a formula used to calculate billions of dollars in annual payments to hospitals treating indigent patients, saying that those entitled to Supplemental Security Income should be collecting cash payments before they're counted in the formula.

  • April 28, 2025

    Gov't Reverses Position On Surgery For Trans Prisoners

    The Trump administration is rejecting the federal government's previous stance that prison officials are constitutionally required to provide gender confirmation surgery to incarcerated people with gender dysphoria who request the treatment, noting the shift in recent statements to a Georgia federal court.

  • April 28, 2025

    NC Dentist Acquitted Of $3M Fraud, Tax Evasion Charges

    A North Carolina dentist was acquitted of wire fraud and tax evasion charges on the fourth day of a federal jury trial in which prosecutors had alleged the dentist submitted false loan applications to the Small Business Administration and failed to pay income taxes.

  • April 28, 2025

    Mich. Nurses Quit Claims Of Pay Withheld For Breaks Untaken

    Two registered nurses agreed to drop their claims of unpaid wages against the two locations of a Michigan healthcare system they had accused in federal court of requiring them to work through meal breaks without pay, ending the case Monday in federal court.

  • April 28, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds Clinic Manager's Repeat Charges For Fraud

    A decision that allowed the federal government to reindict a health clinic manager for a Medicare and tax fraud scheme can stand, a Second Circuit panel found Monday, agreeing with the lower court that his offenses were serious enough to permit it.

  • April 28, 2025

    Red States Want ACA Trans Health Rule Permanently Off Books

    A group of 15 red states that successfully got a Biden-era rule frozen that protected gender-affirming care under the Affordable Care Act have urged a Mississippi federal judge to rule the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overstepped its authority and cannot require states to allow gender-affirming care for transgender people.

  • April 25, 2025

    HHS Sued Over Withholding Of $65.8M In Title X Funding

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unlawfully withheld $65.8 million in federal grants for critically needed family planning services, a nonprofit alleged in a suit filed Thursday in D.C. federal court, saying the withholding seemed to be based, in part, on grantees' support for diversity, equity and inclusion.

  • April 25, 2025

    Justices Want More Info On HHS Authority In Task Force Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ordered the federal government and a group of Texas businesses and individuals to compile more information as to whether the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has the authority to appoint members of a task force under the Affordable Care Act.

  • April 25, 2025

    Sutter Health To Pay $228M In Years-Old Antitrust Suit

    A class of millions of health insurance premium payors asked a California federal judge Friday to greenlight an eleventh-hour $228.5 million settlement resolving their long-running claims that hospital chain Sutter Health drives up costs by pushing all-or-nothing network deals on insurers.

  • April 25, 2025

    Refusing Mental Healthcare Means Liability, Pa. Justices Rule

    Physicians in Pennsylvania can be held liable for turning away a mental health patient who goes on to harm someone if that patient came to the hospital asking for help, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

  • April 25, 2025

    HHS Says Cuts Target Excess After Judge Seeks More Info

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a Rhode Island federal judge that a group of states has no basis to challenge the cancellation of billions in grants supporting public health programs because they already received the funds appropriated to them by Congress.

  • April 25, 2025

    Trans Prisoners Fight For Care Over New White House Hurdles

    After staff at a New Jersey federal prison told Alishea Sophia Kingdom that, due to an executive order by President Donald Trump, she would no longer be receiving hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, Kingdom lodged the latest in a series of suits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons that contend following the executive order violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

  • April 25, 2025

    Organ Donor Network Wants Veteran's Waitlist Bias Suit Axed

    The United Network for Organ Sharing asked a Georgia federal court to toss a lawsuit filed against it and several university medical schools over allegations that they delayed a Black military veteran's ability to receive a kidney transplant by artificially inflating his kidney function scores.

  • April 25, 2025

    DOD To Assess Tricare Program Competition In Ga. And Fla.

    The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded contracts to CareSource Military and Veterans to compete with managed care support contractors in delivering health, medical and administrative support services to eligible Tricare beneficiaries in the Atlanta and Tampa markets. 

  • April 25, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Withdrawn Application Dooms Age Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit refused to reopen a sleep doctor's lawsuit claiming a hospital refused to consider him for a job because he was 66 years old, saying his decision to turn down an interview after receiving a misaddressed email doomed his case.

  • April 25, 2025

    5 Issues Benefits Attys Want The Gov't To Shed Light On

    The first three months of President Donald Trump's administration have left lawyers who represent employers and benefit plans hungry for clarity on issues like cryptocurrency as a 401(k) investment and coverage for gender-affirming care. Here, Law360 looks at five areas where attorneys are hoping for guidance or regulations.

  • April 24, 2025

    Ex-Pain Clinic Owner Gets 3½ Years For Drug Test Scheme

    The former owner of a Pennsylvania pain management practice has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for conspiring with others to defraud Medicare by submitting unnecessary urine drug tests for chronic opioid patients at his medical clinics.

  • April 24, 2025

    'Egregious' Delays Wipe Out Ga. Health Fraud Case

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday dismissed an eight-year-old case over alleged Medicaid fraud, calling the government's delays in bringing three healthcare executives to trial "egregious" and noting that the alleged criminal conduct took place between 12 and 25 years ago.

  • April 24, 2025

    No Greece Trip For Ex-Conn. Official Facing Corruption Cases

    A Connecticut federal judge on Thursday denied a former state official's request to take a trip to Greece amid two indictments, an order that came the day after the government opposed the plan.

  • April 24, 2025

    Polsinelli Gains 2 Healthcare Shareholders In Denver

    Polsinelli PC announced this week that it has brought two Denver-based attorneys from Husch Blackwell LLP and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to its healthcare practice, which the firm says gained six new shareholders in the past 12 months, not including these most recent additions.

  • April 24, 2025

    Harvard Seeks To Move 'Swiftly' In $2B Fund Freeze Suit

    Harvard University is seeking to move as quickly as possible to get to the merits of its suit challenging the Trump administration's $2.2 billion funding freeze, asking a Massachusetts federal judge to expedite discovery and briefing.

  • April 24, 2025

    Workplace Screening Co. To Pay $8M For False Billing Claims

    Vault Medical Services will pay $8 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false reimbursement claims for providing COVID-19 testing and other pandemic-related services to a federal program designated for uninsured patients.

Expert Analysis

  • What Trump's Order Means For The Legal Status Of IVF

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    An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last month signals the administration's potential intention to increase protections for in vitro fertilization services, though more concrete actions would be needed to resolve the current uncertainty around IVF access or bring about a binding legal change, says Jeanne Vance at Weintraub Tobin.

  • Mitigating Tariff Risks For Healthcare In US And Canada

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    Healthcare stakeholders should take steps to evaluate the impact of cross-border tariffs, as the historically strong ties between Canada and the U.S. demonstrate the potential for real disruption and harm to the healthcare industry in both countries, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Transgender Care Suit

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    The outcome of U.S. v. Skrmetti will have critical implications for the rights of transgender youth and their access to gender-affirming care, and will likely affect other areas of law and policy involving transgender individuals, including education, employment, healthcare and civil rights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework

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    Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.

  • Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare

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    A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector

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    As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • What To Expect From 'Make America Healthy Again' Actions

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    The Make America Healthy Again Commission recently established by President Donald Trump and chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will potentially bring energy and attention to important public health topics, and stakeholders should be aware of pathways for sharing their input and proactively informing proceedings, says Nicholas Manetto at Faegre Drinker.

  • How Citizen Petitions Have Affected Drug Competition

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    In light of recent citizen petitions and proposed legislation regulating such petitions, Omar Robles at Managing Health analyzes the statistics of the extent to which citizen petitions have been filed, and to what extent they have delayed competition in prescription pharmaceuticals.

  • Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove

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    The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Assessing PE Risk After Mass. False Claims Act Amendments

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    A law recently passed in Massachusetts amends the commonwealth's False Claims Act by dramatically expanding potential liability for private equity firms and investors, underscoring the importance of robust diligence and risk assessments for private equity firms conducting transactions in the commonwealth, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • What Trump Actions Mean For Federal Research Funding

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    New guidance from the National Institutes of Health represents a massive policy shift regarding federal funding for researchers at institutions of higher education, contributing to a perfect storm of significant resource shortfalls in upcoming years, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • A Look At Healthcare Transaction Oversight In Oregon

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    Understanding Oregon's enforcement authority and its impact on proposed transactions last year provides a road map to the state's plans to strengthen its processes this year, though enforcement could be challenged by ongoing litigation, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.