Articles and Blogs

Congress Objects to Possible Changes to Medicare Group Appeals Process On July 23, Senate Commerce Committee member Dan Coats (R-IN) and House Ways and Means Committee member Todd Young (R-IN) sent a joint letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner raising concerns over a provision in the FY 2015 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (“IPPS”) proposed…Read More

On Wednesday, July 15, Governor Beshear filed emergency regulations establishing new health facility licensure categories called “behavioral health services organizations” and “residential crisis stabilization units.” Beshear states that these new health facility licenses will increase Kentuckians’ access to mental health treatment and will help them avoid higher levels of care. 902 KAR 20:430E establishes minimum…Read More

A recent case from the Northern District of Texas is a great reminder of a very important lesson – it’s not just the large class/collective action FLSA lawsuits that can be costly. In Black v SettlePou, Inc. (Case No.3:10-CV-1418-K), Ms. Black sued her Texas employer in federal district court, claiming that she was improperly classified…Read More

Moving Target of Compliance Over the past few years, we have written about the NLRB’s focus on private employer social media policies (see the references to our past HR Insights Blog posts below).  The decisions are hard to reconcile, and employers (and their advisors) are left to guess what may be seen by the NLRB to…Read More

Hall Render Meets with Energy and Commerce Committee Staff on Telemedicine Initiative On July 15, Hall Render attorneys John Williams, Jeff Short and Michael Batt met with professional staff at the House Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss what steps Congress can take to remove the legislative and regulatory barriers that currently impede the advancement…Read More

On July 15, a new law in Kentucky took effect that expands the prescribing authority for advanced practice registered nurses (“APRNs”). Kentucky Revised Statutes 314.042 allows APRNs that have been prescribing non-scheduled legend drugs under physician supervision for four years to prescribe these drugs without physician oversight. Proponents of the law say that the change…Read More

Background On July 14, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule that would allow physician-owned hospitals to use additional data sources to support requests for exceptions to the ban on expansion of physician-owned hospitals.1 Under the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) amendments to the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law”), a…Read More

Unlawful Interference Private employees have the right to engage – or not to engage – in activities in support of a union or each other relating to wages, hours and working conditions.  It’s unlawful for private employers to “interfere” with those rights.  Spying on employees or even just creating the impression of surveillance has been…Read More

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on July 14, 2014 issued Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, along with Questions and Answers about the guidance and a Fact Sheet for Small Businesses. This is the first comprehensive update of the EEOC’s guidance on the subject of discrimination against pregnant workers since 1983. This guidance…Read More

Kentucky pharmacists take note: soon you may have to update your prescription drug tracking and dispensation procedures to reflect proposed changes to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations. Section 045 of Chapter 55 in Title 902 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations currently contains a list of drugs that are excluded from the licensing, distribution, recordkeeping and reporting…Read More