Health Law

For physicians in the process of developing physician-owned hospitals, the race is on to get those facilities up and running by December, 2010. The recently enacted 'Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010' amends the Stark law to once and for all prohibit physician-owned specialty hospitals unless: (1) the hospital has a Medicare provider agreement by December 31, 2010; and (2) was not converted from an ambulatory surgical center to a hospital after March 23, 2010. Hospitals grandfathered under the above provisions are prohibited from, among other things, expanding their physician ownership or the number of ORs or beds from what they were on December 31, 2010.