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A Unanimous Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decides Leadbitter in Hospital’s Favor

On August 17, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Leadbitter v. Keystone Anesthesia Consultants, No. 19 WAP 2020, holding that (i) a hospital’s credentials committee qualifies as a “review committee” for purposes of the Peer Review Protection Act (“PRPA”) to the extent it undertakes peer review, and (ii) the federal Health Care Quality and Improvement Act of 1986 (HCQIA) protects from disclosure the responses provided by the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) to queries submitted to it, regardless of any contrary state law. 

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PA COVID-19 Regulatory Waivers Scheduled to Expire on September 30, 2021

On June 10, 2021, the Pennsylvania legislature voted to end Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration, which had been in effect since March 6, 2020.  The vote would have also terminated the hundreds of COVID-19 regulatory waivers authorized under the emergency disaster declaration, but a last minute deal resulted in a bill extending the regulatory waivers until September 30, 2021.  

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HHS Issues “Final Interim Rule” Implementing the No Surprises Act

On July 1, 2021, the Biden administration, through the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury, issued “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing: Part I,” an interim final rule implementing the No Surprises Act. Those provisions relevant to health care providers will be set forth at 45 C.F.R. part 149. They apply to health care providers beginning January 1, 2022. 

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