Articles and Blogs

The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) published a Spanish version of its model Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”) on February 19, 2014.  The English version of the OCR model NPP was published in September 2013 and comes in four formats (layered, booklet, full page and text) and two versions (one for health care providers and one for…Read More

Direct Therapy Supervision Bill Introduced in the House On February 18, Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced H.R. 4067, a bill that will extend the moratorium on physician supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2014. Although CMS instituted its own moratorium on the supervision requirements, those were lifted…Read More

On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658, which raises the minimum rate of pay for federal contractors to $10.10 per hour.  The rate is subject to increases each year in relation to increases to the Consumer Price index.  This bold action by the president came after he was unable to convince Congress…Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting cap-subject H-1B petitions on April 1, 2014 for Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2015.  Employers should be aware of this fast-approaching deadline to maximize the possibility of obtaining H-1B spots for foreign national employees. 

The Wisconsin Medical Examining Board (“MEB”) recently approved significant changes to the regulations governing, among other things, the physician supervision requirements of physician assistants (“PAs”).  The modifications increase the number of on-duty PAs a physician can supervise at the same time and change the requirements for documenting the supervision.  The revised regulations also simplify the…Read More

Can a Temporary Condition Be Considered a “Disability” Under the ADA?  The answer is yes, it can be, according to a recent case by a federal appeals court.  Ever since Congress amended the ADA in 2008 to be more broad and inclusive in its scope, there has been some confusion about whether or not a temporary…Read More

Executive Summary On January 31, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2014 (“Plan”).  The Plan provides insight into the OIG’s potential audit and enforcement activities for the next fiscal year.  While the Plan addresses several different provider types, this article addresses…Read More

2-Midnight Rule Enforcement Delayed Until October 1, 2014 On January 31, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced another delay in enforcement of the 2-Midnight Rule, now pushed back to October 1, 2014.  The delay provides additional time for CMS to educate hospitals on how to implement the 2-Midnight Rule, which has raised…Read More

Under the Breach Notification Rule, HIPAA covered entities are required to submit reports of certain breaches of unsecured protected health information (“PHI”) affecting fewer than 500 individuals to the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) on an annual basis.  No later than March 1, 2014, covered entities must submit their breaches electronically through OCR’s breach notification…Read More

Senate Extends Medicare Sequester Cuts On February 12, the Senate passed military pension legislation that is paid for by an extension of the 2% Medicare sequester cuts to 2024. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the one-year extension will create $8.3 billion in savings. The legislation sets aside $2.3 billion of the savings as a “down…Read More