Articles and Blogs

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

Union Fines Its Members for Crossing Picket Line When an employee joins a union, he or she becomes subject to the union’s bylaws and rules.  When those rules provide for fines and penalties for crossing a picket line, the result can be very costly for the employee who has not resigned from the union.  A…Read More

“Your leadership style is not in accordance with company practices.” This is what an HR Director was told when he was terminated after his company learned that he was “stressing out” two of his assistant HR managers.  The tense work environment that he created caused both managers to seek counseling and each had begun looking…Read More