Rivkin Radler LLP

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on December 3 that it imposed a $1.19 million penalty on Gulf Coast Pain Consultants, a pain management practice in Florida, following a security breach that affected over 34,000 individuals. Gulf Coast filed a breach notification report with OCR, as required under HIPAA, after a former contractor accessed the practice’s electronic health records (EHR) system without authorization. OCR’s investigation found that the former contractor intended to obtain protected health information (PHI) for use in potential fraudulent Medicare claims. The information of approximately 34,310 patients was accessed during three separate occasions, including the patients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, dates of birth, social security numbers and insurance information. To read Ada Janocinska full blog post, please visit https://lnkd.in/e5Gi75Yb #HIPAAbreach #RivkinRounds

Kenneth Fishberger, a Long Island internist with nearly 50 years of medical experience, recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. Prosecutors revealed that from 2013 to 2019, Fishberger ordered hundreds of medically unnecessary transcranial doppler (TCD) brain scans in exchange for kickbacks. In this scheme, Fishberger collaborated with a salesperson and a principal of a mobile medical diagnostics company. He received $100 per scan, contributing to fraudulent claims exceeding $890,000 billed to Medicare and private insurers. To read Atara Kahn's full blog post, please visit https://lnkd.in/emkj7riA #rivkinrounds

If you are at least 70 ½ years old and you have a traditional IRA, you can donate up to $105,000 directly from your IRA account to charity. This direct transfer, called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), avoids having to recognize the assets transferred to the charity in your gross income on your tax return. Direct IRA QCD’s to charities are not tax deductible as donations, but correspondingly, they are not treated as income received by you that could trigger higher income taxes and other negative consequences (ex., reduction in Social Security benefits). Generally, when you take an IRA distribution and make an equivalent gift to charity, the distribution is taxable income to you and you receive a charitable deduction for the gift. The charitable deduction you receive may not totally offset the taxes you must pay for receiving the IRA distribution. The IRA QCD would provide you with better income tax results. To read Patricia Marcin's full article, please visit https://lnkd.in/eeHBmPSK #gifttax #tax #trustsandestates

Geoffrey Kaiser spoke to Part B News for the article, "Third-Party Biller Fraud May Hook Your Practice, Unless You Protect Yourself." The article discusses a case against a third-party biller who was charged with healthcare fraud, which was settled in October by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. To read the full interview please visit, https://lnkd.in/eiMFq3Rz #billingfraud

Amid the ongoing legal battle over the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), updates continue to roll in. On December 5, 2024, the U.S. government filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) from the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the “Court”) to enjoin the CTA. The CTA has made headlines this month as the January 1, 2025, deadline for most reporting companies to file beneficial ownership information (a “BOI Report”) was quickly approaching. However, on December 3, 2024, the Court delivered a major rebuke of the CTA, granting a nationwide injunction of the CTA and its reporting rules, and holding that it is “likely unconstitutional as outside of Congress’s power” in the case Texas Top Cop Shop Inc. et al. v. Garland et al. To Read Stella Lellos and Lindsay Brocki's full article, please visit https://lnkd.in/gKQY_j9m #CorporateTransparencyAct #corporate #rivkinradler #CTAupdate

Congratulations to Bernadette Kasnicki and Elizabeth S. Sy! Bernadette and Liz were named to the Long Island Business News 40 Under 40 list. Last night, LIBN hosted an awards ceremony to recognize all honorees for their professional accomplishments, community service, and commitment to inspiring change. (pictured left to right: Michael Impellizeri, Catherine Savio, Jenson Wang, Krystal Armstrong, Elizabeth S. Sy, Zane Robinson, Kenneth C. (Casey) Murphy, and Lindsay Brocki) Read more: https://lnkd.in/e3mmh7BK

We are pleased to announce a significant legal victory on behalf of our insurance client! #legalvictory #insurancenews

On November 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released the “Nursing Facility ICPG,” an industry-specific compliance program guidance for nursing facilities. The Nursing Facility ICPG serves as a voluntary, nonbinding tool to assist facilities in reducing risks related to fraud, waste, and abuse, while promoting operational effectiveness and cost-effective and quality care. The guidance also affects stakeholders who interact with nursing facilities, including individual providers, supply companies, pharmacies, and hospitals. The guidance is designed to be flexible, recognizing that each nursing facility may face unique challenges. It works alongside OIG’s General Compliance Program Guidance (GCPG), released in November 2023, which applies to all healthcare entities. The Nursing Facility ICPG is an update of OIG’s earlier guidance documents for nursing facilities which were released in 2000 and 2008. To read Mary Aperance and Jeff Ehrhardt's full blog post, please visit https://lnkd.in/gi9teGb5 #rivkinrounds

Rivkin Radler is proud to announce that Jill Bechtold was selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA). Fellows are selected based upon excellence and accomplishment in litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, and superior ethical reputation. Fellowship in the LCA is highly selective and by invitation only. Jill practices in the area of civil litigation, where she focuses on medical and professional liability defense, employment disputes, product liability defense, business litigation, trucking litigation, and insurance defense. She is experienced in defending professional licensure actions, including defending physicians in Department of Health investigations and licensed companies in Department of Business and Professional Regulation actions. In 2024, Jill was named Lawyer of the Year in Product Liability Litigation-Defendants Law for the Jacksonville area by Best Lawyers in America®. To read the full press release please visit, https://lnkd.in/eUTjv7cV #rivkinradler #litigationlaw #productliability

During the weeks leading up to the Presidential election, the media carried stories about wealthy supporters from each Party who had announced their intention to leave the country if the other Party’s candidate became President. Of course, none of these individuals stated they would be giving up their U.S. citizenship or green card, probably because they were aware that such a move (pun intended) would trigger an onerous exit tax. To read Louis Vlahos' full blog post please visit, https://lnkd.in/gr-bQfhS #rivkinradler #taxlaw