Are You the Target of a Medicaid Audit? Tips Health Professionals Should Be Following
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Office of Inspector General (OIG), and Bureau of Medicaid Program Integrity is the Florida agency responsible for routine Medicaid audits The agency ensures that the Medicaid program was billed correctly for […]
Florida’s New E-Prescribing Law: How It May Affect You and Your Career
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law In 2019, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 831 (2019), Electronic Prescribing, into law. The new bill provides important requirements for prescribers to generate and transmit all prescriptions electronically upon their license renewal or by July 1, […]
Orlando Physician To Pay $10,000 Fine for Prescribing Painkillers to Undercover Agents
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On January 24, 2013, an Orlando physician pleaded no contest to racketeering charges for allegedly prescribing pain pills to undercover agents who did not need them. The physician was fined $10,000 and placed on 20 years of probation. […]
Top Medicare Prescribers Collect Speaking Fees from Drug Makers-Coincidence?
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A recent investigation by ProPublica found that certain doctors who prescribed certain drug brands the most, also have financial ties to the companies that manufacture those prescription drugs. Using […]
Cardiologists Face Higher Scrutiny by CMS
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm As the U.S. population ages and heart disease continues to be a leading cause of health issues, cardiologists and cardiology practices are finding themselves billing Medicare for more and more visits and procedures. Along with that increase in reimbursement from Medicare comes an increase in scrutiny. […]
Doctors’ Medicare Payment Data to be Released Spring 2014
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law For years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has kept private its records on Medicare claims payments made to individual physicians. However, beginning March 18, 2014, the government may disclose the payment data on a case-by-case […]
Federal Health Officials Propose Medicare Paying Doctors to Discuss End-of-Life Issues
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new plan for doctors to discuss end-of-life issues with their patients. The plan is part of the CMS annual Medicare physician payment rule. This comes six years after […]
Report: Florida Received an F in Medical Pricing Transparency
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law In Florida, it’s difficult to compare prices for medical services and procedures because the various prices are not made public. In part because of this, a recent study by a health-care advocacy group gave Florida an F for […]
CVS Blacklists Second Set of Doctors Accused of Overprescribing Painkillers
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law CVS is again stepping up its own internal efforts to combat the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic. According to Reuters, the second largest retail pharmacy chain announced it is cutting off access to the most powerful painkillers for […]
Central Florida Doctor’s Home and Offices Raided Over Alleged Improper Prescribing Practices
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law In a joint operation, law enforcement officials raided the home and two offices of a Central Florida physician on November 8, 2013, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office alleges that the doctor […]
Workers Can Be Fired For Using Marijuana Off-Duty
By Carole C. Schriefer, R.N., J.D., The Health Law Firm Marijuana may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. Employers’ zero- tolerance drug policies trump Colorado’s medical marijuana laws, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Monday. In a 6-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that businesses can terminate an […]