Articles and Blogs

This morning, the National Labor Relations Board (Member Hayes dissenting) proposed reforms of the procedures it follows prior and subsequent to conducting a secret ballot election to determine if employees in the private sector wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining. The proposed amendments are intended to reduce unnecessary litigation, streamline pre- and…Read More

This installment of Hall Render’s Health Law Broadcast series on health care reform is designed to provide you with the insight, analysis, and practical suggestions with respect to the various reform initiatives that will affect your organization. Executive Summary Effective July 1, 2011, the  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  (“CMS”) will prohibit Medicaid payments for medical treatment…Read More

On June 9, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Announcement 2011-37 (“Announcement”) indicating the entire Part V, Section B (“Part V.B”) of Schedule H to the Form 990 will be optional for tax-exempt hospitals filing for the 2010 tax year.  Tax-exempt hospitals are still expected to complete all other parts of Schedule H, including…Read More

The National Labor Relations Board, in a 3 to 1 decision last week, ruled that a union’s use of a 16-foot high and 12-foot wide inflatable rat balloon on public property outside of a hospital’s main vehicle entrance was lawful and not prohibited secondary boycott activity. This case began in 2003 when the Sheet Metal…Read More

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) formally published its proposed regulations implementing changes to the Accounting of Disclosures provisions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).  The proposed regulations arise from requirements in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), passed as part of…Read More

Ushering in a new era of fraud enforcement, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been hosting a series of summits, webcasts and tweets on health care fraud prevention. A national Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) Provider…Read More

By law, U.S. employers must verify the identity and employment authorization for every worker they hire, regardless of the employee’s immigration status. To comply with the law, employers must complete Form I-9. Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  launched I-9 Central, a new online resource center dedicated to Form I-9, Employee Eligibility…Read More

A new free timesheet application to help ensure workers receive all wages earned has been issued and may lead to more wage and hour litigation. The U.S. Department of Labor yesterday announced the launch of its first application for smartphones, a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages…Read More

Executive Summary On May 5, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a Final Rule revising the hospital and critical access hospital (“CAH”) Conditions of Participation (“COPs”) governing the credentialing and privileging of telemedicine1 practitioners (“Final Rule”).  The Final Rule, effective July 5, 2011, will permit hospitals and CAHs contracting with distant-site2…Read More

We understand that the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) Office of Audit Services currently is in the process of sending numerous Contact Letters to hospitals across the country in an effort to determine hospital levels of compliance with Medicare billing requirements.  As part of this audit, the OIG plans to review “known areas of compliance”…Read More