Dr. Bob Halterman is something of a Midas-in-Reverse. His refusal to pay $38,000 he owed Johnson Regional Medical Center resulted in a $65,000 judgment in favor of the hospital. When the hospital recruited Dr. Bob, the parties executed three documents: a recruitment agreement, a promissory note for $50,000 …
California Physician Loses at Dating Game
September 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
A California appellate court has declared physician Visha Dev the loser in his dating contest with Blue Shield Life and Blue Shield California. The contest arose when the Blues moved for summary judgment in Dev’s action against them for denying three reimbursement claims. The Blues argued that the date when …
What’s In a Name? Not Much, Says Colo. Federal Court
April 6, 2016 Leave a Comment
On March 31 a federal court in Colorado threw out a suit by 80 chiropractors against several national health insurers. The chiropractors alleged that the insurers violated Colorado law by paying them less than physicians and other health care professionals for the same services. As the judge saw it, the …
N.Y. High Court Denies Facility Fees for Office Surgery
April 1, 2016 Leave a Comment
New York State surgeons who operate in their offices took a hit on March 31, when that state’s highest court upheld a ruling that no-fault insurance companies are not required to pay a facility fee—only the professional fee. And that’s the case even when the office is formally licensed as an office-based …
Eighth Circuit Rejects Hospice’s Fifth Amendment Plea
March 11, 2016 Leave a Comment
But not the Fifth Amendment plea you’re thinking of. It was the takings clause, not the self-incrimination clause, that Southeast Arkansas Hospice (SAH) was pleading. And the Eighth Circuit wasn’t buying it. Medicare caps the annual reimbursement a hospice may receive. The program requires repayment …