Given the Texas Medical Board’s increasing use of temporary suspension hearings it would be helpful to understand what repercussions those hearings entail. As we shall see, a temporary suspension not only affects a physician’s medical license it may also affect his Medicare billing privileges and DEA controlled substances registration. A temporary suspension hearing may have been preceded by a temporary suspension without notice. A temporary suspension without notice is essentially a shoot first ask questions later proceeding. The Texas Medical Board first suspends the MD or DO and then later schedules a hearing pending which the physician remains unable to practice. While we strongly recommend that physicians always have legal representation during temporary suspension proceedings, we believe even physicians who are currently temporarily suspended may benefit from legal representation to mitigate the secondary effects.
Consequences to a physician’s Medicare billing privileges and DEA registration as a result of a without notice temporary suspension proceeding:
As a result of a temporary suspension hearing without notice, the physician’s license will be suspended leaving the physician unable to practice medicine. However, this suspension will only be in effect until a temporary suspension with notice hearing. At this subsequent hearing a panel of the Texas Medical Board may vote to reinstate the physician’s license finding that the evidence is not sufficient to continue the suspension. In the meanwhile, however, the practitioner may still lose his Medicare billing privileges or DEA registration because of the suspension.
A provider is required under the Medicare regulations to report "any adverse legal action" within 30 days. However, there is a good faith argument to be made that the legal action to be reported must be final and unappealable. A temporary suspension without notice is certainly not a final determination as there must be a subsequent temporary suspension with notice hearing. Additionally it should be noted that the suspension of a medical license is only a "permissive" ground for Medicare exclusion. The physician is not mandatorily excluded from Medicare. An administrative lawyer well versed in Medicare regulations would be helpful in avoiding this undue exclusion during a temporary suspension.
The DEA is likewise entitled to revoke a person’s DEA controlled substances registration if their medical license has been suspended or revoked. But, as described above, the temporary suspension without notice is short in duration because of the required temporary suspension with notice hearing. An administrative lawyer can similarly forestall the suspension or revocation of a physician’s registration based on a thorough understanding of the Medical Practice Act’s temporary suspension proceedings.
Repercussions on a physician’s Medicare billing privileges and DEA registration as a result of a suspension with notice hearing.
After a with-notice hearing the temporary suspension can remain in place for an extended period of time, sometimes over a year. At this point, both Medicare and the DEA may exercise their statutory discretion and rescind the physician’s privileges. However, because the revocation of the physician’s privileges is still not mandatory, a skilled administrative attorney can find a legal basis to maintain the practitioner’s privileges.
For instance, the physician may appeal the temporary suspension to a Texas district court. This would prevent the temporary suspension from becoming final as it would still be subject to possible reversal. If a physician’s case is particularly strong, he may even move to enjoin the Texas Medical Board from enforcing the temporary suspension pending a final decision. This means that the temporary suspension would no longer have effect and the physician could continue to practice medicine in the interim. If the physician is thus "unsuspended," Medicare and the DEA lose their ability to revoke the physician’s privileges on the grounds that his medical license is suspended. However, these agencies may still institute their own separate investigations and disciplinary proceedings against the physician to independently find grounds to revoke or refuse to renew his privileges.
A temporary suspension by the Texas Medical Board can have grave consequences for the physician’s Medicare and DEA privileges. Physicians should retain legal representation for the temporary suspension proceedings; However, even after a temporary suspension, a physician should seek legal help from an administrative lawyer to mitigate the secondary damage such as the revocation of Medicare privileges and DEA registration. The lawyer must be familiar with both the Texas Medical Practice Act and the federal statutes and regulations governing Medicare and DEA privileges.
Our Leichter Law Firm physician licensing defense lawyers have exactly such experience and have been successful in obtaining injunctions against temporary suspensions and forestalling Medicare and DEA revocations. If you are facing temporary suspension or are suffering its aftermath please contact us at (512) 495-9995 to schedule your initial consultation.