Articles and Blogs

The Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Criminal Division recently released new compliance policy guidance that its attorneys and investigators are instructed to consider when “conducting an investigation of a corporate entity, determining whether to bring charges, and negotiating plea or other agreements.” The Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (“Compliance Guidance”) provides additional…Read More

On March 6, 2017, the president signed a fourth executive order, which clarifies and edits the previous executive order that temporarily banned immigration from seven named countries. Enforcement of the original executive order is currently stayed by the courts pending appeal. This new order will go into effect on March 16, 2017. Brief Overview of…Read More

On Thursday, March 2, 2017, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) of the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a notice in the Federal Register that took the first steps toward delaying the so-called “fiduciary rule.” The EBSA acted in response to President Trump’s Presidential Memorandum of February 3, 2017 that directed the DOL to evaluate the…Read More

Due in part to health care reform and an aging population, the demand for primary care is on the rise. Many are predicting that an insufficient number of primary care physicians will exist to meet this demand. Thus, an expansion of the health care workforce is critical. Many states are looking to nurses, more specifically…Read More

Starting on April 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will be temporarily suspending premium processing for H-1B petitions. According to the USCIS website, the suspension may last as long as six months. This suspension will likely cause difficulty and delays for employers who are looking to hire or are in the process…Read More

ACA Repeal Could Pass the House by Easter The House Republican leadership announced to their members this week that committee hearings to mark up ACA replacement legislation will begin by the middle of next week. The strategy outlined will take up the remainder of March and possibly the first week of April with the goal…Read More

A recent case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has significant implications regarding the obligations of hospitals to report certain actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank (“NPDB”). As a brief overview, the hospital in the case imposed a requirement that a surgeon’s next five cases be proctored. The…Read More

The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) established certain amendments to the Stark Law, including that new physician-owned hospitals cannot be formed and existing physician-owned hospitals cannot expand the aggregate number of operating rooms, procedure rooms or licensed beds beyond the number for which the hospital was licensed on March 23, 2010. Due to the Trump administration’s…Read More

In an August publication, we outlined proposed legislation by Rep. Edward Canfield (R-Sebewaing) and Sen. Peter MacGregor (R-Rockford) that would have revised: (1) the Public Health Code to prohibit the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs or a professional board from requiring a physician to maintain a national or regional certification and prohibit hospitals from…Read More

Draft House Republican ACA Replacement Bill Leaked With Congress set to return to Washington on February 27, a draft of the House legislation to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) using the procedure known as budget reconciliation was posted by the Politico news site on Friday. The 106-page measure would eliminate key aspects of…Read More