Articles and Blogs

Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing on Improper Payments On October 1, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to examine how improper health care payments, including overpayments and underpayments, are problematic to the federal government.  More specifically, those stemming from Medicare, Medicaid and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which account for over 76 percent of all…Read More

In SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, Inc. (“SSM“) v. City of Fitchburg (“City”), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed a circuit court’s grant of summary judgment that held that some of SSM’s personal property in a sleep center and a renal center is exempt from property taxes under Wis. Stat. § 70.11(4m)(a). Wisconsin Statute §…Read More

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continues its efforts to find employee status for individuals historically considered to be independent contractors. In Sisters’ Camelot, a decision issued on September 25, 2015, the Board reversed an administrative law judge’s finding that canvassers hired by a non-profit organization for fundraising purposes were independent contractors. What Were the…Read More

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has decided to allow a union to present electronic evidence of employee authorization in support of a request for a secret ballot election in the private sector. This move may make it even easier for a union to gather support and raises many concerns about how employees use computers (including…Read More

Executive Summary On September 9, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued to various divisions within the DOJ and released to the public a Memorandum addressing individual accountability for corporate wrongdoing.  This Memo is the latest in a long-running series of DOJ memorandums addressing corporate misconduct. 

House Speaker John Boehner Announces Retirement from Congress In a meeting with House Republicans early September 25, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced that he will give up the speakership and resign his seat in Congress effective at the end of October.  The move comes in the midst of a contentious debate between Boehner and House…Read More

Background Employers continue to await information regarding the effect of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL’s”) proposed changes to the companionship services exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  As previously reported, the DOL issued a new rule significantly changing the scope of the companionship services exemption.  Though the new rule was scheduled to take effect…Read More

Background On September 8, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), through the Office for Human Research and Protection (“OHRP”), proposed several significant changes to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the “Common Rule”).  In its notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”), HHS and 15 other federal agencies and departments announced…Read More

According to a recent study by the British Medical Journal (“BMJ”) titled Access, Quality, and Costs of Care at Physician Owned Hospitals in the United States: Observational Study (“Study”), physician-owned hospitals (“POHs”) generally do not treat a higher volume of the most profitable patients (commonly referred to as “cherry-picking”) than other hospitals1.  The Study disputes…Read More

House Ways and Means Committee Moves Health Care-Related Bills On September 17, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up group bills, including health care-related legislation that would expand the religious liberty exemption to the individual mandate. The second bill would allow individuals to use health savings accounts (“HSAs”) and similar vehicles to use those…Read More