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Government Contracts
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April 9, 2013
CMS, OIG Propose Changes To E-Records Safe Harbor
Federal health officials on Tuesday proposed several changes to the “safe harbor” that allows health care organizations to donate electronic health records technology without triggering the anti-kickback statute or Medicare's ban on physician self-referrals, including a proposal to extend the safe harbor for several more years.
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April 8, 2013
HHS Wants Florida To Repay $2.3M In Medicaid Overpayments
Federal regulators on Friday accused the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration of failing to collect $19.8 million in Medicaid overpayments between July 2007 and June 2010, and asked the state agency to repay $2.3 million of that amount.
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April 8, 2013
Pa. Bills Seek More Gov't Transparency, Accountability
Pennsylvania state Sens. Mike Stack and John Eichelberger Jr. introduced nine bills Monday that would tighten requirements for campaign contributions and gifts reporting, require more disclosure in government contracting and prohibit lobbyists from owning a stake in gaming, in attempts to boost transparency and ferret out corruption.
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April 5, 2013
Lax Ga. False Claims Law May Threaten Medicaid Incentives
The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday told Georgia that its false claims statute falls short of the federal False Claims Act, endangering certain Medicaid incentives for the state.
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April 5, 2013
Pa. Gov. Wants Turnpike Contracts Reviewed After Indictments
Pennsylvania's governor on Thursday canceled an $8.6 million information technology contract and ordered a comprehensive review of other contracts awarded by the state's Turnpike Commission in the wake of March indictments accusing high-ranking officials and contractors of bid-riggings and bribery.
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April 4, 2013
GAO Rips Regulators Over Botched Foreclosure Review
The U.S. Government Accountability Office blamed federal regulators and private consultants for their lousy performance reviewing more than 4 million residential foreclosures in a bungled process that delayed relief to homeowners and ultimately was scrapped, according to a report issued Thursday.
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April 2, 2013
NJ School Construction Agency Tweaks Project Bid Process
The New Jersey authority responsible for the construction and renovation of the state’s public schools adopted on Monday new procedures for design-build contracts for school construction projects in an effort to comply with an appellate court’s order that the authority change its excessively discretionary bidding process.
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April 2, 2013
Debate Heats Up Over New Insourcing Guidelines
As the Office of Federal Procurement Policy prepares new guidelines for comparing the relative costs of contractors and federal employees during insourcing decisions, the agency's outreach efforts have contractors weighing in early in an attempt to shape the debate.
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April 2, 2013
Medicare Miscalculation Cost Pa. Hospitals $1.8M, Suit Says
Two western Pennsylvania hospitals filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Friday, alleging they’d been shorted more than $1.8 million in Medicare reimbursements after the government failed to accurately calculate the number of low-income patients they treated.
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April 1, 2013
Chamber Asks High Court To Hear Fight Over FCA Changes
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging the way prosecutors have interpreted the retroactive effective date of major changes to the False Claims Act, arguing that billions of dollars are on the line.
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April 1, 2013
Duane Morris Adds NJ Gov't Affairs, Gaming Vet
Duane Morris LLP has boosted its New Jersey offices with the addition of the former partner-in-charge of Hill Wallack LLP's government affairs and gaming law practice groups, the firm said Monday.
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April 1, 2013
Fla. Bill Axing Sales Tax On Industrial Gear Clears Panel
A Florida Senate panel voted unanimously before a supportive audience of Florida industrial groups that included drugmakers and utilities Monday to approve a bill that would create a comprehensive sales tax exemption on industrial equipment and nix a cap on an incentive program for defense contractors.
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April 1, 2013
In Reversal, CMS Will Boost Medicare Advantage Payments
Federal health officials on Monday reversed its proposal to cut payments to Medicare Advantage plans by 2.3 percent, instead saying they will increase payments next year by almost 3 percent, following an outcry from the insurance industry and lawmakers.
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March 29, 2013
DOD Is Managing Weapons Costs Better, Report Says
The U.S. Department of Defense is improving efficiency in its major weapons acquisitions, bringing the total cost of its ongoing contract investments to a five-year low and spending smarter on its current purchases, according to a Thursday U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
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March 29, 2013
Senators Urge Action On Delayed Contractor Debarments
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators urged the Army on Thursday to quickly debar contractors in Afghanistan that have ties to terrorist groups, expressing “deep concern and frustration” that the Army has failed to cut off ties with 43 companies and individuals linked to Al Qaeda and the Haqqani network.
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March 28, 2013
Pa. Bill Would Keep Private Lotto Money Out Of Campaigns
With Gov. Tom Corbett working to finalize a contract to hand over operation of the Pennsylvania Lottery to a private company, a state legislator announced Wednesday he was introducing legislation that would prevent any management firm from contributing money to state political campaigns.
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March 28, 2013
Pa. Rep. Questions No-Bid Contract To E-Services Provider
A Pennsylvania state representative is challenging a no-bid contract awarded for operation of the state's Web portal, telling Attorney General Kathleen Kane and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale that the deal could enable convenience fees on all new electronic transactions between citizens and the state.
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March 28, 2013
Medicare Asleep On $70M Equipment Overpayments, OIG Says
Medicare has recovered just a sliver of as much as $70 million in overpayments to suppliers of durable medical equipment despite a mandate that such companies obtain bonds to guarantee taxpayers can recoup excessive reimbursement, according to a report issued Wednesday.
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March 26, 2013
Doc-Owned Device Cos. Carry Fraud Risk, Inspector Warns
The inspector general for federal health programs said Tuesday that it considers all physician-owned companies that distribute implantable medical devices to be “inherently suspect” under the anti-kickback statute, warning that high financial incentives could lead doctors to perform or recommend surgeries that are not medically necessary.
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March 22, 2013
Audit Faults Air Force Compliance On $9B In Contracts
The U.S. Air Force inconsistently followed interim Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements on cost-reimbursable contracts worth some $8.8 billion, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defense's inspector general.
Expert Analysis
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How Lawyers Benefit From Early Neutral Evaluation
Early neutral evaluation usually asks a retired judge to consider one party’s case, as if preparing to rule on summary judgment or presiding over a bench trial. Effective evaluation can supply a reality check on a case — it gives the lawyer the gift of seeing the case as others see it, says James Rosenbaum, a panelist with JAMS and former U.S. district judge for the District of Minnesota.
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AT&T Case Confirms GAO's Broad View Of Waiver Authority
The U.S. Government Accountability Office's decision in AT&T Government Solutions Inc. opens the door for government agencies to use their waiver authority under Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 9.5 during a protest to render academic a protester’s claim of potential organizational conflicts of interest, say attorneys with Morrison & Foerster LLP.
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Sequestration Raises Labor Law Risks For Contractors
Notwithstanding the additional flexibility provided by the spending bill that President Obama signed on March 26, sequestration will continue to cause significant uncertainty for government contractors due to government customers cutting programs, tasks and personnel. In selecting the employees who will be impacted by these cuts, contractors should apply reduction-in-force principles to reduce the likelihood of discrimination claims, say attorneys with Proskauer Rose LLP.
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Rule 12(e): What Is It Good For? Absolutely Nothing
The recent evolution of case law governing the standard for Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss reveals that Rule 12(e) serves no practical purpose in modern pleading practice, says Nathan Kipp of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
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Litigation Support At A Crossroads
Despite recession-driven cost pressures that have resulted in the downsizing of nonlawyer personnel at law firms, many litigation support departments are growing. In a recent survey, half of respondents indicated that their function has grown in size in the past three years, and more than half of respondents indicated that current staffing levels are inadequate for the projected needs of the coming year, say experts at Epiq Systems and Georgetown University Law Center.
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FCA Allows Treble Damages — 'But Treble What?'
The ability to seek treble damages is a key feature of the False Claims Act, yet few courts have asked a simple question: “Treble what?” In United States v. Anchor Mortgage Corporation, the Seventh Circuit resoundingly rejected the Justice Department’s long-standing approach to calculating damages in FCA cases. The implications for financial institutions and others facing FCA liability are significant, say attorneys with BuckleySandler LLP.
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Lance Armstrong’s FCA Woes: 3 Lessons For Contractors
The False Claims Act suit against Lance Armstrong is hardly a typical FCA case, given Armstrong’s celebrity status, the lurid allegations of the complaint and the very public way in which the scandal has unfolded. But it reflects a broader truth — government contractors are now operating in a time of unprecedented enforcement risk, say Steve Shaw and Mike Wagner of Covington & Burling LLP.
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Sequestration And The Sovereign Acts Doctrine
With all the talk about sequestration, we've been thinking — aren’t the sequester and a government shutdown “sovereign acts” for which the government bears no liability? A sequester-driven shutdown may be protected under the sovereign acts doctrine, but that won't protect the government from promises made in its contracts, say attorneys with Brown Rudnick LLP.
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7 Reasons To Do Pro Bono Work
Research shows that helping others and cultivating social relationships makes us happier and that generous people live longer, healthier lives. These are just a few of the countless reasons to create time in our busy schedules to do pro bono and charitable work this year, says Anne Brafford of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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A Win-Win For Military Bases And Local Governments
Section 331 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act permits the military services to enter into intergovernmental support agreements with state and local governments for the provision of installation support services. The law presents the potential for long-term cost savings for both parties, say attorneys with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.