The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently launched a new, redesigned hotline webpage to better guide the public through the tip and complaint reporting process. The OIG hotline operations accepts tips and complaints from all sources regarding potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) programs. The
Updated Civil Monetary Penalties
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 requires agencies to adjust civil monetary penalties for inflation annually. Effective November 5, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services released updated civil monetary penalties for the regulations its agencies are responsible for enforcing.
Below are key changes applicable to healthcare providers.
Tenth Circuit Affirms an Award of Attorneys’ Fees for a Successful FCA Defendant
On June 11, 2019, the Tenth Circuit affirmed an award of $92,592.75 in attorneys’ fees to the defendants in Pack v. Hickey, 776 F. App’x 549 (10th Cir. 2019). Pack had appealed the district court’s entry of summary judgment and related orders in favor of Defendants Maureen Hickey (“Hickey”) and Cloud Peak Initiatives, Inc.
HHS to Ease Fraud and Abuse Rules Part 1: Proposed Revisions to Existing Anti-Kickback Statute Safe Harbors
As discussed in a previous McGuireWoods alert, on Oct. 9, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services announced two proposed rules to significantly amend the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law), the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Civil Monetary Penalties Law. This client alert, the first in McGuireWoods’ summary series on these proposed
Ready or Not, Prepare to Start Answering Questions About Reg BI Compliance
On June 5, 2019, the SEC adopted Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”), which requires broker-dealers and associated persons to make recommendations regarding securities transactions (or investments involving securities) that are in the “best interest” of their retail clients. The SEC also adopted Form CRS, requiring broker-dealers and investment advisers to provide a brief relationship summary
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same –Joint Statement by FINRA and the SEC on the Customer Protection Rule and Digital Asset Securities
On Monday, July 8th, FINRA and the SEC took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities. In doing so, the Staffs of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets and of FINRA’s Office of General Counsel made clear that the SEC and FINRA will continue to apply
SEC 2019 Fintech Forum
Members of the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“FinHub”) and experts in Fintech came together on May 31st for the SEC’s public forum focusing on distributed ledger technology and digital assets. As a whole, the panelists grappled with the challenge of regulating an emerging technology that does not fit neatly within the
SEC Adopts Regulation Best Interest
On June 5, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted, by a 3-1 vote, Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”) which, in the words of Chairman Clayton, would “substantially enhance the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond existing suitability obligations.” The Chairman also noted: “the standard of conduct draws from key fiduciary principles and cannot be satisfied
The CFPB’s Debt-Collection Proposal: Key Details and Webinar
This post follows up on our earlier “primer” and flash alert on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule (the proposal) to implement the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which the CFPB released with a Fact Sheet and a Table of Contents to the proposal. Below, we describe key details of the proposal, and provide further
D.C. Circuit Vacates SEC Sanctions, Says Negligent Omissions Are Not ‘Willful’ Under Advisers Act
On April 30, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing sanctions. The court held that an investment advisory firm and its owners did not violate Section 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1930, 15 U.S.C. § 80b-7, by negligently omitting material