Articles and Blogs

In a speech delivered at an educational conference on April 19, Lois Lerner, Director of the Exempt Organizations Division at the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), reported the preliminary findings from an analysis of governance practices of exempt organizations and signaled that good governance will continue to be a focal point for the IRS.  The findings…Read More

In a memo issued today, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon outlined in detail how regional offices will implement new representation case procedures that take effect on Monday, April 30. The guidance covers the entire representation case process from beginning to end, incorporating to the extent necessary the new rules and the procedures that remain…Read More

The Federal Court in the Southern District of Ohio dismissed a debtor’s claim against Reid Hospital, in Richmond, Indiana, and one of its employees, under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The Court found that the Hospital was a creditor to whom the Plaintiff owed a debt, and therefore could not be held civilly…Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just released a final rule requiring all providers of medical or other items or services and suppliers that qualify for a National Provider Identifier (NPI) to include their NPI on all applications to enroll in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and on all claims for payment submitted under…Read More

Suppliers participating in Round 2 and/or the national mail-order competition of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (“DMEPOS”) Competitive Bidding Program must have all applicable state licenses on file with the National Supplier Clearinghouse (“NSC”). Bidding suppliers must ensure that copies of applicable state licenses are recieved by the NSC on or…Read More

On April 17, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it had reached a settlement with Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, P.C. (the “Practice”) arising from potential violations of the Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).  This is the first Resolution Agreement under HIPAA…Read More

Consumers can now compare results from home health agencies (HHA) patient surveys on the Quality Care Finder website.  These results are designed to create incentives for HHAs to improve quality of care, as well as to give patients additional information as to the type of care they will receive from a particular agency.  The Centers for…Read More

If you are one of those generous employers who provides educational scholarships to current employees and prospective employees, we strongly recommend that you evaluate whether you are appropriately taxing these benefits.  When an individual hears the word “scholarship,” they frequently don’t think of this financial award as potentially having tax implications.  However, for purposes of…Read More

In September of 2011, the Indiana Court of Appeals rendered its opinion in Doe Corp. v. Honore, 950 N.E.2d 722 (Ind. Ct. of App. 2011). The central issue in the case was whether the trial court had equitable power to consider a request for a preliminary determination of law after the Medical Review Panel had…Read More

Comments to the Medicare and Medicaid Program; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program-Stage 2 Proposed Regulations are due in two weeks.  If you wish to make comments to these proposed regulations, they must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 7.  Comments can be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov.  You can also submit written comment…Read More