Policy & Compliance
-
March 24, 2026
Utah Hospitals To Track Violence As States Step Up Reporting
Under a new law, Utah hospitals will join a national effort to better understand the risks facing healthcare workers.
-
March 24, 2026
Ohio Justices Likely Split On Trans Care Restrictions
The Ohio Supreme Court appeared split Tuesday as to whether a new state law banning gender-affirming care for minors trumps a decade-old healthcare freedom provision passed by voters that says state laws can't block a patient from obtaining healthcare.
-
March 24, 2026
Fraud Task Force May Boost White Collar Defense Work
A new federal anti-fraud task force involving at least a dozen federal agencies could soon expose more state and local governments, contractors, companies and others to compliance risks, particularly in healthcare fraud and False Claims Act cases, experts say.
-
March 24, 2026
Justices Won't Review Class Cert. In Diabetes Drug Risk Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review whether a federal court can certify a class of third-party payors who claim drugmakers hid the cancer risks of an anti-diabetes drug.
-
March 24, 2026
Mass General Accused Of Shaving Time From Workers' Pay
Boston-based healthcare system Mass General Brigham shaved as much as 14 minutes a day from employees' pay by rounding their clock-in and clock-out times, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in federal court.
-
March 23, 2026
J&J Amici Seek Clarity On Goldman Precedent For Class Cert.
Four groups of amici have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Johnson & Johnson's challenge to a Third Circuit decision allowing a securities class action over its talc products to proceed, warning the ruling could reshape how shareholder suits are litigated nationwide.
-
March 23, 2026
FTC Stays Focused On Healthcare, Launches Task Force
The Federal Trade Commission announced it is launching a new task force with staff from across the agency to coordinate healthcare policy approaches and initiate investigations meant to help protect patients, healthcare workers and American taxpayers.
-
March 23, 2026
Progressive Escapes Workers' Tobacco, Vaccine Fee Suit
Allegations that Progressive Corp. wrongly charged higher health premiums from workers who used tobacco or refused the COVID-19 vaccination failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law, an Ohio federal judge ruled as he tossed a proposed class action against the insurance giant.
-
March 23, 2026
Feds Approve Minnesota's Plan To Combat Medicaid Fraud
Minnesota may soon receive the release of $243 million in deferred Medicaid funds after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved the state's updated plan to combat Medicaid fraud, Minnesota state health officials told a federal court last week.
-
March 23, 2026
Health Insurers Can't Force Conn. ERISA Row Into Arbitration
Elevance Inc. can't compel arbitration of a union health plan's allegations the insurer caused it to pay excessive administrative fees and medical costs, a Connecticut federal judge ruled, finding the insurer and its subsidiaries waived that right by seeking to dismiss the proposed class action.
-
March 23, 2026
High Court Won't Hear Mich. Newborn Blood Testing Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a petition from parents seeking to revive claims that the way newborn blood samples are collected and stored in a Michigan health screening program violates their rights to make medical decisions for their children.
-
March 23, 2026
Justices Won't Review Lab Owner's Kickback Conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the conviction of a former California biotech president sentenced to eight years in prison for lying about the efficacy of his company's COVID-19 and allergy testing and conducting a $70 million Medicare fraud scheme.
-
March 23, 2026
High Court Won't Hear Calif. Border Hospital Medicaid Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not consider a case challenging California's exclusions of hospitals in neighboring states from supplemental federal payments going to providers that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
-
March 20, 2026
Feds Rip Ex-NFL Player's New Trial Bid Over Medicare Scheme
The federal government opposed a new trial bid by Keith Gray, a former NFL player and Texas laboratory owner convicted in a $328 million scheme involving billing for unnecessary cardiovascular genetic testing for Medicare beneficiaries, arguing Thursday he lacks any valid basis to "disturb the jury's sound verdict."
-
March 20, 2026
EPA's Ethylene Oxide Plan May Hinder Other Air Toxics Regs
A new proposal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to weaken emission standards for a medical sterilizer could have broader implications for the agency's power to tighten air pollution limits when new science becomes available.
-
March 20, 2026
Pa. Hospital Must Pay $109M For Brain Injury During Birth
Jefferson Health and its subsidiary Einstein Healthcare Network have been hit with a nearly $109 million verdict by a Philadelphia jury in a lawsuit accusing them of negligence leading to debilitating brain injuries sustained by a child delivered at one of their hospitals.
-
March 20, 2026
Mich. BCBS Unit Gets Health Plans' Claims Fight Transferred
A federal judge granted Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's request to transfer a proposed class action alleging the insurance company violated federal benefits law by mismanaging claims in self-funded employee healthcare plans it administered, given that a similar, earlier-filed action was proceeding in an adjacent district.
-
March 20, 2026
Eye On ERISA: A Chat With King & Spalding's Darren Shuler
Increased scrutiny of health plans and the high costs of care are fueling a litigation uptick that's coming not just from plan participants but also from employers frustrated with their third-party administrators, said Darren Shuler, a partner at King & Spalding LLP. Here, Shuler speaks with Law360 about litigation trends involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
-
March 19, 2026
HHS Can't Block Trans Care Under Kennedy Edict, Court Says
A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia prevailed on Thursday in their challenge to a Trump administration move to cut access to gender-affirming care for minors when an Oregon federal judge agreed to void a policy statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
March 19, 2026
Pharma Group Can't Halt Colo. Law Over Drug Discount Rules
A Colorado federal judge denied a bid by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America seeking to halt enforcement of a state law guarding providers' ability to contract with pharmacies to distribute discounted drugs under the federal 340B program.
-
March 19, 2026
Legislative Update: Cannabis And Psychedelics Bill Roundup
Virginia lawmakers last week gave final approval to legislation that would tax and regulate the sale of adult-use cannabis, Georgia legislators passed a dramatic expansion of the state's medical cannabis program, and Iowa lawmakers approved a bill to designate kratom as a Schedule I substance. Here are the major moves in cannabis and psychedelics legislation from the past week.
-
March 19, 2026
11th Circ. Partially Reopens Aetna Twin Birth Coverage Fight
The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday undid Aetna's escape from a worker's coverage dispute over an extended hospital stay for her newborn twins, agreeing with the lower court that allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law but holding that an amended complaint should have been allowed.
-
March 19, 2026
Calif. Families Sue Rady Health Over Move To End Trans Care
Four families have asked a state judge to prevent California's largest pediatric health system from cutting off gender-affirming care for minors, alleging the move would violate state antidiscrimination laws and leave them scrambling to find new providers, some more than 100 miles away.
-
March 19, 2026
CVS, Caremark Pocket Money Meant For Rebates, Suit Claims
CVS charges drug manufacturers "exorbitant" fees in exchange for pushing their products, then pockets the money instead of funneling it toward customer rebates as it promises, a federal lawsuit alleges, accusing the company of collecting billions of dollars at customers' expense and violating the anti-racketeering statute.
-
March 18, 2026
Key Details As 3rd Circ. Ponders FCA's Fate, $1.6B J&J Fine
Third Circuit judges Wednesday explored divergent views of the False Claims Act's constitutionality and a record fraud verdict against Johnson & Johnson, expressing little eagerness to gut the FCA's whistleblower mechanism, and voicing uncertainty about evidence and jury instructions underpinning the drug promotion punishment.
Expert Analysis
-
2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks
As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.
-
Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare
False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.
-
How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation
On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.
-
How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level
The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.
-
A Look At Middlemen Fees In 340B Drug Discount Program
A U.S. Senate committee's recent hearing on the Section 340B drug discount program, along with statistical analysis of payment amounts, contribute to a growing consensus that middlemen fees are too high, say William Sarraille at the University of Maryland, and Shanyue Zeng and Rory Martin at IQVIA.
-
Nursing Home Abuse Cases Face 3 Barriers That Need Reform
Recent headlines reveal persistent gaps in oversight and protection for vulnerable residents in long-term care, but prosecution of these cases is often stymied by numerous challenges that will require a comprehensive overhaul of regulatory, legal and financial structures to address, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.
-
Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care
Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.
-
State AGs May Extend Their Reach To Nat'l Security Concerns
Companies with foreign supply-chain risk exposure need a comprehensive risk-management strategy to address a growing trend in which state attorneys general use broadly written state laws to target conduct that may not violate federal regulations, but arguably constitutes a national security threat, say attorneys at Wiley.
-
Unique Aspects Of Texas' Approach To AI Regulation
The Texas Responsible AI Governance Act — which will soon be the sole comprehensive artificial intelligence law in the U.S. — pulls threads from EU and Colorado laws but introduces more targeted rules with fewer obligations on commercial entities, say attorneys at MVA Law.
-
Surveying The Healthcare Policy Landscape Post-Shutdown
With last week's agreement to reopen the federal government, at least through the end of January, key healthcare legislation that has been in limbo since a December 2024 spending bill fell apart may recapture the attention of Congress, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
-
FDA Biosimilar Guidance Should Ease Biologics Development
New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, indicating that the agency may no longer routinely require comparative efficacy studies when other evidence provides sufficient assurance of biosimilarity, underscores the FDA's trust in analytical technology as a driver of biologics access, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
-
Prison Body Cams Raise Health Privacy Compliance Issues
The increasing use of prison staff body cameras to enhance transparency and safety presents correctional healthcare partners with new risk management questions where they must carefully reconcile the benefits of surveillance with the imperative to protect patient privacy, say attorneys at Gordon Rees.
-
Employer Considerations After 11th Circ. Gender Care Ruling
The Eleventh Circuit's en banc decision in Lange v. Houston County, Georgia, finding that a health plan did not violate Title VII by excluding coverage for gender-affirming care, shows that plans must be increasingly cognizant of federal and state liability as states pass varying mandates, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.