Articles and Blogs

On March 14, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final rule finalizing proposed revisions to the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (“DMEPOS”) supplier standards (“Final Rule”).  An article summarizing the April 4, 2011 proposed rule can be found here.  

Just hours after the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia issued its emergency injunction preventing the enforcement of the NLRB’s Employee Rights Notice Posting Rule, the NLRB issued this statement:  “In view of the DC Circuit’s order, and in light of the strong interest in the uniform implementation and administration of agency rules, regional offices…Read More

On April 17, 2012, the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia issued an emergency injunction preventing the NLRB from enforcing its Employee Rights Notice Posting rule that was set to become effective on April 30, 2012.  The Court’s Order granting the injunction sets an expedited schedule for hearing the appeal.  Nevertheless, even with the expedited schedule, the…Read More

Dealing with an employee’s poor attendance is one of the bigger headaches for management, especially in health care where a crucial employee’s unplanned absence could mean the difference between life and death for a patient.  But the FMLA and the ADA add layers of complexity and uncertainty for employers in striking a balance between employee…Read More

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) just released a report on the failure of nursing facilities to develop and implement adequate emergency preparedness and response programs.  The “Gaps Continue to Exist in Nursing Home Emergency Preparedness and Response During Disasters: 2007-2010” report is the summation of an OIG study to assess emergency preparedness and response…Read More

On March 28, 2012, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed 2011 Senate Bill 421 (the “Bill”) into law.  The Bill expands the ability of Wisconsin-licensed physician assistants (“PAs”) to authorize certain medical actions by generally allowing PAs to act on behalf of patients’ and the public’s health in situations that were previously limited to physicians and…Read More

Friday the 13th was a bad news day for the NLRB but potentially a very good news day for private employers.  A federal district court judge in South Carolina on Friday, April 13, 2012 held that the NLRB’s rule obligating private employers to post a notice explaining employee rights under the NLRA was beyond the…Read More

OFCCP announced today the rescheduling of a webinar concerning how the agency intends to address TRICARE based compliance audits.  The webinar is in follow up to Congress’ recent action to carve out TRICARE network agreements from OFCCP’s jurisdictional reach.  It was previously scheduled and then canceled by OFCCP, and will now be conducted on April…Read More

April 16, 2012 is National Health Care Decisions Day. The goal of the day is to encourage Americans to think and talk about their health care goals and communicate their health care decisions by executing advance health care directives. Across the United States, health care providers, professionals, chaplains, attorneys and others will focus attention on…Read More

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky held that the wife of a nursing home resident was contractually bound through a nursing home admissions agreement to apply for Medicaid benefits on behalf of her husband and who failed to do so, could not discharge the amount due to the nursing home…Read More