Articles and Blogs

In the past few weeks, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has issued several crucial decisions impacting union elections in the health care setting. At the close of April 2020, the Board declined to find that COVID-19 justified the stay of a union election at an acute care hospital. In its Order denying the hospital’s…Read More

Skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) are facing many challenges as they reopen their communities to visitors. State health departments are issuing guidance on outdoor SNF visits and phased reopening of businesses. On June 24, 2020, CMS released visitor guidance in the form of several pages of FAQs “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Nursing Home Visitation” that…Read More

On Monday, June 22, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order regarding immigration policies and enforcement amidst the COVID-19 pandemic titled “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Aliens Who Present A Risk to the U.S. Labor Market Following the Coronavirus Outbreak” (the “Executive Order”). Most significantly, the new proclamation affects nonimmigrant visas that permit work authorization. In…Read More

On June 12, 2020, CMS and the Office for Civil Rights of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) posted a display copy of a new final rule that implements Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”)(“Final Rule”). This Final Rule supersedes significant portions of the current 2016 rule (“2016 Rule”) that interpreted and implemented Section…Read More

In a recent opinion, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the employer’s and the employee’s responsibilities in relation to claims alleging a failure to accommodate religious beliefs. The employee in question worked for a hospital as a clinical technician (“CT”) in the Oncology Department, which typically required the CTs to work every other weekend….Read More

Thursday, June 18 Update Note – ​ Our Federal Advocacy Team is dedicated to providing frequent COVID-19 updates as they develop. We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time. These updates along with other resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website​. To learn more about how…Read More

For the first time in a published decision, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that, even under the 2010 Amendment, a prior lawsuit against the same corporate defendants alleging a substantially similar scheme to defraud invokes the FCA’s public disclosure bar, joining the majority of circuits. Relator Alleged a Scheme of Falsified Records…Read More

Skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) are facing many challenges as their residents and staff encounter COVID-19. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and state departments of health have focused on infection control surveys, programs, and prevention. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Preparedness and Response (the…Read More