Articles and Blogs

Congress Passes FY 2015 Omnibus Bill On December 11, the House passed the continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through September 30, 2015. The House also passed a two-day continuing resolution that provides the Senate time to debate the House-passed legislation and avoid a government shutdown that would have occurred at midnight Thursday. The Senate…Read More

Rejecting and overruling its 2007 decision in Register Guard that limited employee rights to use employer email systems for union organizing, the NLRB, in a three to two decision, significantly broadened the scope of private employee rights to use an employer’s email system for union organizing purposes and other protected activity.  The decision focused on the…Read More

Does an employer have to pay its employees when it requires them to stand in line every day for up to 25 minutes waiting to go through security screening at the end of the day?  It seems like that’s a lot of time and that it might be fair to compensate those employees for their…Read More

Providers and suppliers who continually submit noncompliant claims to Medicare may have their billing privileges revoked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) according to a final rule recently published in the Federal Register (“Final Rule”).  The new regulation will appear at 42 CFR § 424.535(a)(8)(ii) and will be effective on February 3,…Read More

On December 8, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it had reached a settlement with a nonprofit, community mental health care provider (“Provider”) arising out of alleged violations of the Security Rule under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The settlement comes after an HHS Office…Read More

On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced the Immigration Accountability Executive Action, a series of steps directed toward reforming the United States’ immigration system. Although the media’s attention has primarily focused on provisions relating to deferred action for unauthorized persons, the measures also contain several initiatives aimed at improving the nation’s employment-based immigration system. These…Read More

The Department of Labor published regulations last week that will make it unlawful for federal contractors to discriminate in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  The regulations will become effective in early April, 120 days after being published in the Federal Register. 

The IRS recently announced that the federal estate tax exemption amount will increase to $5,430,000 per person effective for individuals dying in or after 2015. The effects of this large exemption amount are addressed in this issue of Hall Render’s Estate Planning Insights audio series.  Please join Doug Long, Shareholder at Hall, Render, Killian, Heath…Read More

Hope for Permanent SGR Reform in 2014 Ends On Thursday, December 4, lawmakers who back legislation that would permanently repeal and replace the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) announced that efforts to pass the measure this year have ended. According to Politico, the co-chairman of the House Republican Doctors Caucus, Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), said there…Read More

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in the case of Walgreen Co. vs Hinchy that could permanently alter the landscape for employer liability for HIPAA violations committed by employees.  Health care providers should be aware of this case and take actions to limit their exposure to this type of liability. Background In…Read More