Tag: Jeff Baird
Q&A with Jeff Baird: What’s the impact of health care monopolies?
July 3, 2024Liz Beaulieu, Editor
AMARILLO, Texas – The Department of Justice’s new task force on health care monopolies and collusion is “absolutely warranted,” says attorney Jeff Baird, chairman of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato.
The DOJ announced in May that it had formed a Task Force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion (HCMC) within its Antitrust Division to guide its enforcement strategy and policy approach, including by facilitating advocacy, investigations and, where warranted,...
Whistleblowers drive increase in FCA lawsuits
March 22, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – The False Claims Act has led to a growth industry of sorts and it’s unlikely to slow down any time soon, says health care attorney Jeff Baird.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced $2.68 billion in settlements and judgments under the FCA, its highest number in a single year, with more than $1.8 billion related to health care. The vast majority are driven by whistleblower lawsuits, says Baird, chairman of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato.
“There...
Physicians, platforms & supplies: ‘It’s a gray area’
June 23, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – The unwinding of the public health emergency and the increasing number of platforms that allow physicians to manage the distribution of medical supplies for their patients have complicated the Medicare market for providers, says health care attorney Jeff Baird.
During the public health emergency, which stretched from March 2020 through much of April 2023, some physician groups took the position that blanket waivers to the Stark law allowed them to mail supplies to...
Post-PHE: Grandfathering patients, continuing telehealth and using EUA devices
February 10, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Now that there’s an end date, industry watchers are waiting for CMS to publish guidance on patients who providers set up during the public health emergency and who they will bill for beyond the PHE.
President Joe Biden announced in February that the PHE will end May 11, 2023.
“We need to be grandfathered in,” said Jeff Baird, chair of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato during a Feb. 2 webcast. “We don’t want post-PHE...
Stark and Baird on what’s critical to a provider’s livelihood
January 13, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Medicare Advantage will be the elephant in the room in 2023, say Andrea Stark and Jeff Baird, due to the “sheer mass migration” of beneficiaries to these plans.
“Everything is centered around managed care,” said Baird, chairman of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato. “It seems like, overnight, we woke up and 50% of Medicare patients are now covered by these plans.”
HME News connected with Stark, a Medicare consultant...
Legal spotlight: Mandates, audits
April 2, 2022Liz Beaulieu, Editor
AMARILLO, Texas – With the roller coaster of vaccine mandates and the uptick in audits, legal issues are keeping HME providers on their toes, say Jeff Baird and Denise Leard. Baird and Leard, both health care attorneys with Brown & Fortunato, gave HME News a look into the latest developments on these two topics.
Vaccine variables
The long story short, Baird says, is if you’re an HME company, you have to worry about whether or not your employees are visiting a health care facility...
CMS softens safe harbors, exceptions to promote value-based care
December 3, 2020Liz Beaulieu, Editor
AMARILLO, Texas - CMS's recent reforms to the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law will benefit HME providers, but “not a whole lot,” says healthcare attorney Jeff Baird.
The agency in late November published two final rules, culminating a years-long process of modernizing regulations to better support coordinated and value-based care, but they mostly impact physicians and hospitals.
Baird, chairman of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato, drilled down to how the...
Legal roundup, COVID edition
May 29, 2020Liz Beaulieu, Editor
AMARILLO, Texas - With Round 2021 a wild card, health care attorney Jeff Baird is advising his clients to hold off on making any serious financial decisions for as long as possible.CMS's latest round of competitive bidding is due to start Jan. 1, with payment amounts announced this summer and contract suppliers announced this fall, but industry stakeholders are trying to make the case to the agency that the bids they submitted last fall are outdated.“It's really difficult to see how competitive...
Relaxing the federal anti-kickback statute and Stark
February 3, 2020Guest Commentary
Historically, Medicare payments for health care have been based on the fee-for-service (FFS) model—that is, Medicare pays for the service regardless of the patient outcome. This model results in (i) providers not coordinating with each other and (ii) expenditure of money without evidence of tangible results. With 78 million baby boomers retiring at the rate of 10,000 per day, the FFS model is not sustainable. As such, Medicare is pushing providers away from the FFS model…and toward the...
What awaits in the aftermath of self-audits?
December 13, 2019Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine - Industry stakeholders are watching to see how the Office of Inspector General and CMS respond to provider self-audits on CPAP supplies.
About a year and a half ago, more than 80 providers were asked to conduct self-audits looking back six years, and their responses ran the gamut from not responding, to reporting an overpayment and sending a check, according to Jeff Baird.
“It's going to be interesting,” said Baird, chairman of the Healthcare Group at Brown...