Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Abrams Fensterman Cautions Health Care Clients

Office of Inspector General Is Aggressively Asserting Its Authority to Exclude Owners, Officers and Managing Employees of Sanctioned Entities From Participation in Federal Health Care Programs

Lake Success, NY, August 02, 2011 - "The longstanding but little-used authority of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to exclude from participation in any federal health care program, such as Medicare, any officer or managing employee of a health related entity that has been convicted of certain legal offenses, should now be top-of-mind for all general managers, business managers, administrators and directors of today’s health care facilities," says Patrick Formato, a partner at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Greenberg, Formato & Einiger, LLP (Abrams Fensterman).

Reflecting on his recent participation at June’s Annual Meeting of the American Health Lawyers Association, Formato is reaching out to his clients with a stern warning: "The OIG is becoming increasingly aggressive in targeting owners, managers and boards of sanctioned health care facilities. These individuals must keep a finger on the pulse of what is going on in every phase of their organization and they must be proactive about reporting their concerns."

Formato notes that exclusions under section 1128 (b) (15) of the Social Security Act are based upon the individual’s role or interest in a company that is excluded or is convicted of certain offenses. Individuals who have an ownership or a control interest in a sanctioned entity may be excluded if they knew or should have known of the conduct that led to the sanction. Officers and managing employees may be excluded based solely on their position within the entity.

"There is a higher standard for exclusion of an owner,"Formato points out. "The relevant statute requires evidence that the owner knew or should have known of the conduct that formed the basis for the sanction. In cases involving officers and managing employees, the statute includes a no knowledge element. The OIG therefore has the authority to exclude every officer and managing employee of a sanctioned entity." says Formato.

"As a practical matter, the OIG does not intend to exclude all officers and managing employees," Formato notes.

"But where the evidence supports the fact that a managing employee knew or should have known of the conduct, the OIG will probably operate with a presumption in favor of exclusion."

"Abrams Fensterman has one of the largest health care legal practices in New York state, representing approximately 125 nursing homes, a large number of medical groups and individuals in a variety of complex health care-related matters," says Howard Fensterman, Managing Partner of Abrams Fensterman.

"Some of our clients include physicians, medical societies, ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic and treatment centers, hospitals, imaging facilities, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, early intervention agencies and other health care providers," Fensterman notes.

"This experience has led to our health care lawyers lecturing at bar associations, professional organizations, hospitals and colleges. At these meetings and through direct communications, Pat Formato and I, along with our entire senior health care-specialist team, will be underscoring what is clearly an environment of increased enforcement on the part of the OIG that is specifically related health care fraud. We want our clients to be proactive, diligent and aggressive so as to prevent legal action against their health care entities and the possibility of being sued and personally excluded from future participation in the industry," says Fensterman.

Howard Fensterman is Managing Partner and Patrick Formato is Senior Partner of Abrams Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Greenberg, Formato & Einiger, LLP (Abrams Fensterman), located at 1111 Marcus Avenue, Suite 107, Lake Success, New York. The Firm’s website is abramslaw.com

New Word City LLC Announces the Publication of What the Ivy League Won’t Teach You

New Word City LLC announces the publication of What the Ivy League Won’t Teach You, a new eBook by William Deresiewicz

Boston, MA, August 03, 2011 - New Word City LLC announces the publication of What the Ivy League Won’t Teach You, a new eBook by William Deresiewicz, essayist, book critic, author of A Jane Austen Education, and former Yale University professor.

Never before has admission to elite colleges been so sought after. Parents spend a fortune trying to get their kids in; kids spend their high-school years preparing to fill in every blank on their applications. But what, in the end, does it get them? asks Deresiewicz. The elite college system, he writes, produces highly skilled and specialized young people who are poorly equipped for life. And these are the people who will one day run the country. Here, in this eye-opening eBook, is what every parent, student, and citizen needs to know.

About the Author:
William Deresiewicz is an essayist, book critic, and the author of A Jane Austen Education - How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter. He is a contributing writer for The Nation and a contributing editor for The New Republic. His essays and reviews have also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, The American Scholar, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bookforum, Slate, and The London Review of Books. His work was nominated for National Magazine Awards in 2008, 2009, and 2011 and the National Book Critics Circle’s Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing in 2010. His current book project is Excellent Sheep - The Disadvantages of an Elite Education.

About New Word City:
New Word City LLC is a leader in the emerging field of digital publishing, specializing and pioneering short-form eBooks on a variety of topics, such as biographies, business, fiction, food, history, sports, and travel. Its eBooks appear regularly on a number of bestseller lists. Its titles are also featured each week on the Starbucks Digital Network.

Contact:
Molly Jones
(617) 266-9539

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @NewWordCity


To request a review copy of this title, please email us at editors@newwordcity.com.

Contact:
Molly Jones
New Word City LLC
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 266-9539

New Word City LLC Announces the Publication of The Imperial Congress

New Word City LLC announces the publication of The Imperial Congress, a new eBook by New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Thomas Fleming.

Boston, MA, August 02, 2011 - New Word City LLC announces the publication of The Imperial Congress, a new eBook by New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Thomas Fleming.

Today’s spectacle of Congress boldly defying the president of the United States - be his name Barack Obama or George Bush - is unsettling to many Americans. But it should not come as a surprise. Congress, writes Fleming, has sought to seize power for itself - and diminish the presidency - since the earliest days of the republic.

About the Author:
Thomas Fleming is one of the most distinguished and productive historians and novelists of our time. He has written 20 nonfiction books that have won prizes and praise from critics and fellow historians, many focused on the American Revolution. He has also written 23 novels, many of them bestsellers, which explore the lives of men and women in vivid narratives that range from the raw America of the 1730s to the superpower that confronted World War II and endured Korea and Vietnam.

About New Word City:
New Word City LLC is a leader in the emerging field of digital publishing, specializing and pioneering short-form eBooks on a variety of topics, such as biographies, business, fiction, food, history, sports, and travel. Its eBooks appear regularly on a number of bestseller lists. Its titles are also featured each week on the Starbucks Digital Network.

Contact:
Molly Jones
(617) 266-9539

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @NewWordCity


To request a review copy of this title, please email us at editors@newwordcity.com.

Contact:
Molly Jones
New Word City LLC
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 266-9539