Health Care Policy Top Health Law Issue as Uncertainty Persists

Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Reporter provided an in-depth overview of the issues that likely will test health care lawyers in 2018 based on commentary from Bloomberg Law’s Health Care Advisory Board of which health care partner Lowell Brown is a member.

The health care policy regime will remain in flux and there will be a myriad of regulatory and business challenges for health care providers in 2018. The “Top Ten” issues that health care lawyers will be facing this year include (in this order): 1. health care policy, 2. Fraud and Abuse, 3. Industry Consolidation, 4. Medicare, 5. Medicaid, 6. Information Technology, 7. Taxation, 8. Governance, 9. Antitrust, and 10. Health Plan Regulation.  

Lowell commented on the health care industry consolidation trend by stating that “[t]he corporate practice of medicine doctrine, which prohibits corporations from employing doctors to provide medical services, will be a complication in some states. Some states may weaken corporate practice rules legislatively to accommodate new practice models. Failing that, attorneys will need to find creative work-arounds for their clients.” Lowell also commented on the health plan regulation topic by stating that “[s]ome insurers, faced with these challenges, may ‘seek new models for their businesses,’ such as pushing plan members to use digital options, like telehealth.” To read the article in full, click here.

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