Healthcare Law News - Volume 40
HARMFUL PRESCRIBERS
Medicare wants a new rule giving CMS the power to bar physicians and other providers who engage in abusive prescribing, CMS also wants to require all physicians prescribing Part D patients pharmaceuticals to have to enroll in Medicare, verifying their credentials, and disclosing professional discipline and criminal history. The proposal would take effect January 1, 2015.
Oddly, the proposed rules do not require diagnosis codes on prescriptions to determine whether they are appropriate, nor does it require private insurers in Medicare Part D to report suspected abuse, fraud and waste. However, the rule would allow Medicare’s outside fraud contractor to the power to access patient medical charts directly rather than to request them from insurers. This, obviously, raises substantial privacy questions, and also the potential for massive disclosure breaches by the outside fraud contractor. We expect a large number of public comments on the proposed rule.
DERMATOLOGIST HAS HIPAA RASH
$150,000 was the settlement amount, plus the institution of a corrective action plan for a dermatology practice that lost an unencrypted thumb drive.
It appears that AP Derm made a number of errors, including having someone else report to HHS regarding the loss of data. The investigation also revealed that AP Derm did not conduct either an accurate or thorough review of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to their confidential PHI as part of the required security management and risk analysis process. This, in addition to AP Derms failure to comply with HITECH Breach Notification Rules, resulted in a stiff payment. One wonders whether compliance with the rule might have been much less expensive.
2014 PLAN LIMITS
| 2013 | 2014 | |||
|
Annual Compensation for plan purposes(for plan years beginning in calendar year) 401(a)(17) |
$255,000 | $260,000 | ||
| Defined benefit plan, basic limit (for limitation years ending in calendar year) 415(b) | $205,000 | $210,000 | ||
| Defined contribution plan, basic limit (for limitation years ending in calendar year) 415(c) | $51,000 | $52,000 | ||
| 401(k)/403(b) plan, elective deferrals (for taxable years beginning in calendar year) 402(g) | $17,500 | $17,500 | ||
| 457 plan, elective deferrals (for taxable years beginning in calendar year) | $17,500 | $17,500 | ||
| 401(k)/403(b)/457, catch-up deferrals (for taxable years beginning in calendar year) (Age 50+)414(v) | $5,500 | $5,500 | ||
| SIMPLE plan, elective deferrals (for calendar year)408(p) | $12,000 | $12,000 | ||
| SIMPLE plan, catch-up deferrals (for taxable years beginning in calendar year) (Age 50+)408(p) | $2,500 | $2,500 | ||
| IRA contribution limit 408(a) | $5,500 | $5,500 | ||
| IRA catch-up contribution (Age 50+) | $1,000 | $1,000 | ||
| Highly Compensated Employee 414(q) | $115,000 | $115,000 | ||
| SEP Coverage 408(p) (Compensation limit) | $550 | $550 | ||
| Key Employee | $165,000 | $170,000 | ||
| ESOP 5-Year Distribution period 409(o)(1)(c)(ii) | $1,035,000 | $1,050,000 | ||
This newsletter is edited by Paul Wallace of Jones • Wallace, LLC, a member of the American Bar Association Healthcare Law Section and the American Health Lawyers Association who has been representing physicians and healthcare practices for over 25 years. Mr. Wallace assists physicians in health practices in contract items, federal legal compliance, creation of practice entities, estate and wealth planning and similar issues. Please feel free to call if you have any questions about this newsletter or any other matter at (812) 402-1600 or pwallace@joneswallace.com.