Articles and Blogs

Executive Summary On May 28, 2015, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) published a mid-year update to its Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2015 Work Plan (“Updated Plan”).  The Updated Plan identifies certain new projects that OIG started since, and that did not appear in, the original FY 2015 Work Plan published in October 2014.  OIG has…Read More

With the signing of Senate Enrolled Act 554, Indiana has joined the ranks of states adopting a telehealth parity law. Effective July 1, 2015, third party payors will be obligated to reimburse providers for telemedicine services on the same basis they would have had the health care service been provided via a face-to-face consultation. If…Read More

OFCCP has posted new sample AAPs for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities in follow up to the substantially revised VEVRAA and Section 503 regulations that went into effect last year.  The samples show how covered federal contractors might satisfy their new regulatory requirements in their initial (aka “transition”) AAP year.  According to the OFCCP,…Read More

On May 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Kellog Brown & Root Service, Inv. et al. v. United States ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. ____ (2015), Case No. 12-1497. Most of the commentary on the case centers around the Court’s decision on the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act, but the…Read More

Under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), prior to implementing changes to wages, hours or other terms and conditions of employment, employers are required to give the union notice and an opportunity for bargaining. Once the union has received notice of a potential change, it is required to request bargaining in order to preserve its…Read More

Cures Bill Unanimously Passes Energy and Commerce Committee On May 7, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the 21st Century Cures bill by a unanimous vote of 51-0. The legislation is designed to streamline clinical research and make more flexible industry pathways to approve medical devices and drugs to speed up the discovery, development…Read More

On May 19, 2015, the Subcommittee on Health of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Kevin Brady (R-TX), held a hearing titled Improving Competition in Medicare: Removing Moratoria and Expanding Access. The hearing was the first in a series for the summer that is intended to identify solutions to improve…Read More

Health Bill Clears House Subcommittee On May 14, the House Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee passed the 21st Century Cures legislation by a unanimous vote.  A day earlier, the full committee released an updated draft of the Cures legislation. The legislation now heads to the full committee level, where a markup is expected next week….Read More

Employers and the EEOC faced off again recently, this time over the EEOC’s obligation to engage in conciliation before commencing litigation against an employer. In Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, the employer prevailed in claiming that a federal court may decide whether the EEOC met that obligation but made the EEOC’s burden in establishing that…Read More

Senate Adopts Republican Budget On Tuesday, May 5, the Senate voted 51-48 to pass a Republican-led budget adopted by the House last week. The vote follows nearly two months of negotiations between Republicans in the House and Senate and comes almost three weeks after the budget committee chairmen in both chambers had hoped to reach…Read More