For the first time since 2013, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General has issued updates to its Healthcare Fraud Self-Disclosure Protocol. Created in 1998, the protocol can be used to create a process to voluntarily identify, disclose and resolve instances of potential fraud involving federal healthcare programs.

The OIG noted that between 1998 and 2020, it resolved more than 2,200 disclosures resulting in recoveries of more than $870 million.

The following are some takeaways...

Paul Pender, MD writes in a KevinMD blog post:

“Take it or leave it” is not negotiation but coercion.

Physicians have been subject to this tactic for much too long. As an ophthalmologist in clinical practice for nearly four decades, I experienced too often what a recent author on KevinMD described as a one-sided arrangement with a health insurance company. “Here is the fee schedule. Here is the document to sign.” End of story.

If you object to the terms of the contract and attempt to negotiate better terms, you are excluded from the insurance company’s network. I recall an episode of such coercion when the medical director of a large insurance company met with our group of physician-partners to propose...

Nov. 22 was the deadline for federal employees to provide documentation demonstrating they are vaccinated or to request an exemption. What will happen next?

The mandates have stirred political and legal brawls across the nation, pitting states against the federal government, local governments against their states, and employees against employers. Critics have said the requirements constitute federal overreach and force Americans to choose between their livelihoods and medical autonomy.

The Biden administration says that mandates will "save lives, protect the economy, and accelerate the path out of the pandemic." Read more: https://wapo.st/3DuWYLI.