Long Term Care & Senior Living Blog

Effective January 1, 2017, Illinois will enact Molly’s Law, which extends the time period in which a victim’s family can file a wrongful death lawsuit in situations where the victim dies as the result of an act that was intentional and violent in nature. This law was introduced by State Representative Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) in February 2016. The law amends the current Wrongful Death statute of limitations from two years to five years for scenarios where the death is the result of violent intentional conduct or within one year after the final disposition of the criminal case if the defendant is charged with first degree murder,

Next time you wonder how serious the government is about anti-kickback law, think about the latest False Claims Act settlement of $30 Million. This settlement was part of the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, partnering Department of Justice and Health and Human Services.

While the donation of a valuable item such as an EHR program would raise fraud and abuse concerns, exemptions under Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Safe Harbor were designed to encourage the widespread implementation of EHR and to let smaller providers accept gifts of EHR software without violating the law or statute.

In an era where long-term care facilities are increasingly implementing the use of electronic medical records, facilities need to be aware of the issues that might come into play during litigation.

Last December Missouri House Representative Bill White introduced HB 100, titled the Adult Health Care Consent Act. This bill attempts to specify the order of priority of persons entitled to make health care decisions for an individual who has been certified as physically and cognitively unable to consent to his or her own health care.