Health Care Today | Health Law Blog

In November 2018, Missouri became the 33^rd state to approve the use of medical marijuana, and rules and regulations for medical marijuana are being drafted by the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHHS). On March 15, 2019, DHSS released more draft rules. Of the published draft rules, there is only one set that relates to physician certifications. However, hospitals and other health care providers will encounter numerous challenges once medical marijuana becomes available in Missouri in 2020.

The expansion of telehealth is changing the landscape of health care. This is the second in a four-part series exploring what providers should know about this growing area.

Before 2015, Medicare did not pay separately for telehealth, and telehealth and telemedicine services were bundled into “evaluation and management” codes. However, in 2015, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added further telehealth coverage. CMS has added seven telehealth billing codes, including codes for psychotherapy, prolonged office visits and annual wellness visits conducted electronically. CMS also began paying for remote patient monitoring for chronic conditions.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has found that hospitals are increasingly operating “off-campus, outpatient, provider-based” departments. Services provided at these off-campus facilities are required to be billed using the off-campus facility’s address so that payment can be accurately made under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) or the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS).

The battle over health benefits rages on. In the latest salvo, a group of states scored a major court victory against the Trump administration’s new “Association Health Plan” Final Rule, which was finalized in 2018. While this decision will have major ramifications, it is important to remember that association health plans may still be established under old rules that existed long before the final rule.

The case is styled New York v. United States Dep’t of Labor, No. CV 18-1747 (JDB), 2019 WL 1410370 (D.D.C. Mar. 28, 2019).

The expansion of telehealth is changing the landscape of health care. This is the first in a four-part series exploring what providers should know about this growing area.

Health care providers and patients are relying more heavily on telehealth for the provision of health care. The rise of telehealth is changing the landscape of how health care is provided due to advances in technology and health care delivery systems, and it is improving patient access to health care and the quality of patient care. As the use of telehealth continues to expand, health care providers and third-party payors need to ensure regulatory compliance and navigate the related risks in implementing telemedicine practices and programs.