Articles and Blogs

Two proposed regulations under the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program (“MU Program”) were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) on December 31, 2014.  The two related proposed regulations relate to Stage 3 and the submission to OMB represents the first step toward the proposed regulations being published and available for review by…Read More

As the health care delivery system continues to evolve, Hall Render attorneys are committed to providing practical counsel and insight to health care providers. Below is a compilation of fifteen developments from 2014 that will continue to impact the health care industry in 2015. As the new year begins, our attorneys will continue to monitor,…Read More

Hall Render advised readers of a memorandum opinion issued December 22, 2014¹ by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in which it struck down some, but not all, of the revised companionship services regulations (the “Regulations”) that are currently set to become effective on January 1, 2015. In this ruling, the court…Read More

On December 29, the IRS released the long awaited final regulations under Code Section 501(r) applicable to hospital organizations exempt from tax under Code Section 501(c)(3). The final regulations indicate that they apply to tax years that begin after December 29, 2015, which will give all tax-exempt hospital organizations at least one year to come into…Read More

In a memorandum opinion issued December 22, 2014,1 the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down some, but not all, of the revised companionship services regulations (the “Regulations”) that are currently set to become effective on January 1, 2015. The ruling comes out of a legal challenge brought against the United States…Read More

SGR Repeal, Changes to Medicare Left Out of $1.1 Trillion Spending Deal On December 13, the $1.1 trillion spending bill passed the Senate and will fund the government through September 2015.  Twenty-one Senate Democrats voted against it, but the deal passed by a 56-40 margin.  The bill does not include any major changes to Medicare…Read More

One day after issuing a controversial decision regarding employees’ rights to use an employer’s email system for union organizing (detailed in this blog), the NLRB has adopted its final rule significantly shortening the timeline for union elections in the private sector. We have blogged extensively on the development of this rule as can be seen…Read More

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