Alerts

Following a recent trend that has not been received well by the courts, a divided panel of the National Labor Relations Board invalidated an arbitration policy that required employees to waive their rights to pursue class or collective actions in employment-related claims in all forums, whether arbi

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) intend to strengthen provider and supplier enrollment screening – meaning, scrutinizing providers and suppliers more closely during enrollment – according to a February 22, 2016 post on its blog. 

As pay-for-performance programs continue to expand in both scale and scope across the US health care system, the amount of administrative and clinical resources necessary to participate in these programs has correspondingly grown.

In a recent decision, a US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) agreed with the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) that Lincare, Inc. d/b/a United Medical had violated HIPAA.

Cybersecurity may have rocketed to the top of management’s priority list in the wake of the recent cyberattack on Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC) that left the hospital unable to access some of its computer systems for ten days.

On Friday, February 12, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the long-awaited Final Rule and regulations, providing much needed guidance to providers and suppliers on how to meet the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) 60-day overpayment mandate.

As part of the federal government’s multi-front attack on opioid abuse, the Department of Justice announced on Friday, February 12 that CVS Pharmacy, Inc. has agreed to pay $8 million to settle allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

At long last, after two plus years of debate, last week the Senate finally passed the Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act of 2015 (2015 Trade Enforcement Act).

Today, February 16, 2016, the US Department of Transportation and Cuban government officials signed a December 2015 agreement to restore commercial air travel. There have been no scheduled flights between the US and Cuba for over 50 years.

This alert brings you recent developments affecting importers at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The developments affect how importer information is filed with CBP.

The federal government has focused on compounding pharmacies and pharmacists for fraud and abuse investigations in recent years, and now the great state of Texas has joined in.

International trade events continue to occur at break neck speed. The Toronto International Auto Show takes place later this week, on the heels of the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in New Zealand.

On January 15, 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and 18 automakers pledged to work together to enhance safety and improve recalls. In addition, the automakers agreed to voluntarily work with the government to identify cybersecurity threats to cars and light trucks.

More details are still to come regarding the potential replacement to the invalidated Safe Harbor data transfer mechanism, the EU-US Privacy Shield.

CMS has finalized surveyor worksheets for assessing a hospital’s compliance Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI).

On January 16, 2016, the US Department of State and US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took two actions that impact the auto industry.

The court’s description of the facts of this case are of interest, as they reveal some of the complexity in the delivery of, and payment for, health care services. In this situation, testing by a commercial laboratory of specimens drawn at a physician’s office.

The year 2015 provided another bumper crop of decisions in trusts and estates disputes. While the courts generally experienced a nationwide decrease in the filing of civil lawsuits, trust and estate disputes continued to fill court dockets and a few noteworthy trends emerged.

This morning, the European Commission and US Department of Commerce agreed on a Safe Harbor replacement deal, rebranded as the EU-US Privacy Shield.

As 2016 gets underway, companies should be mindful that regulators are paying close attention to automatic recurring debit transactions.

On January 21, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the long-awaited Final Rule implementing changes to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Federal and Trade Commission recently released a report outlining the benefits and risks involved in using big data.

Macy’s, Inc. and subsidiary Bloomingdale’s, Inc. were recently served with a class action complaint alleging that the retail chains misled consumers with a “phantom pricing scheme” that inflated the savings available on items marked for sale.

On January 16, 2016, the US Department of State and the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the lifting of certain US sanctions against Iran pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).