Articles and Blogs

REVENUE OPPORTUNITY CMS recently announced that, beginning with the FFY 2013 Medicare Wage Index, allowable Defined Benefit Pension expenses will be based upon each hospital’s actual cash contributions to the plan over a 3-year period.  Thus, the FFY 2013 wage index will be based upon each hospital’s average funding contribution for FFYs 2008, 2009 and…Read More

Many employers ask on their employment applications whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.  Often a failure to truthfully answer that question is considered to be cause for either rejecting the applicant or for a later discharge if the lie is discovered after the person is hired.  A new Indiana…Read More

In our Employment Law News article of August 29, 2011, we advised of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new requirement that most private sector, non-governmental employers post a Notice of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act.  When the NLRB made its announcement in August, the official posters were not yet available.  On…Read More

On August 23, 2011, CMS invited health care providers to apply to help test and develop four different models of bundled payments. This Initiative is part of CMS’ overall effort under the Affordable Care Act to better coordinate care among providers. Unlike the criticism CMS received regarding the complexity of the Shared Savings Program, by…Read More

Yesterday, CMS sent a new transmittal to the state survey agencies on the use of feeding tubes in nursing homes. In short, F321 has been combined into F322 and according the CMS the changes were made to provide nursing home surveyors with guidance to determine compliance with use of feeding tubes by nursing homes.  The…Read More

CMS released a Survey & Certification letter today providing guidance for nursing homes that desire to utilize on-site gardens to provide fresh produce for residents. After numerous inquiries from facilities, CMS confirmed that residents can benefit from home-grown foods as long as food-borne illness dangers are mitigated to the greatest extent possible. 

There has been a significant development in how the EEOC views No-Fault Attendance Policies that fail to consider whether the reason for an absence was due to a disability.  Employers that don’t consider disability-caused absences in applying discipline can be in jeopardy under the ADA for failing to reasonably accommodate the employee’s disability by modifying…Read More

In a 3-1 decision released yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided the Specialty Healthcare case favoring the ability of small units of employees to unionize.  Overruling the established Park Manor standard, the NLRB ruled that just the 53 CNAs at a nursing facility could organize as one collective bargaining unit.  

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in coordination with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (“OSTP”) will reportedly announce on September 1, 2011, an extension to the comment period for an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPRM”) in the Federal Register.  The ANPRM was published in the Federal Register on July 26,…Read More