Alerts

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently denounced the US Department of Labor’s six factor test in favor of a new “primary beneficiary” test. Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., 2015 WL 4033018 (July 2, 2015).

After a two-year bipartisan effort, the US House of Representatives approved the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6), by an overwhelming vote of 344-77. 

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the creation of a new litigation team focused solely on using the OIG’s authority to impose civil monetary penalties and exclude individuals and businesses from Medicare and Medicaid.

On June 29, 2015, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio signed into law Bill 318-A, also known as the Fair Chance Act, which limits an employer’s ability to ask about an applicant’s criminal history until the applicant has been given a conditional offer of employment.

King v. Burwell understandably took the attention of the health care industry a couple of weeks ago when it upheld a key component of the ACA. A day later, the Supreme Court released another decision that may have a more significant going-forward impact on the health care industry: Obergefell.

Two important and very different decisions regarding public pensions were issued by the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Supreme Court of New Jersey. These decisions are significant not only for the workers and taxpayers in these States, but also for the owners and insurers of municipal bonds.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released a decision requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to reconsider a 2008 rule prohibiting certain per-click leasing arrangements under the Stark Law.

Who can make healthcare decisions for an incompetent patient when there is no person available to give consent?  

In a 3-2 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) overturned 37 years of precedent and ruled that employers may be required to turn over witness statements to unions prior to arbitration hearings.

Beginning September 1, 2015, many companies that engage in mobile advertising will be subject to a new level of scrutiny by industry watch dogs.

On June 25, 2015, the US House of Representatives passed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (the Act includes a Generalized System of Preferences renewal provision). President Obama is expected to sign the Act into law soon.

On June 22, 2015, the FCC released an order authorizing interconnected VoIP providers to obtain telephone numbers directly from the Numbering Administrators, rather than through intermediaries or wholesale carriers.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently obtained a temporary injunction to stop a Florida-based sweepstakes operation that has taken more than $28 million from consumers in the United States and abroad.

In the long awaited decision in King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court ruled this morning in a 6-to-3 decision that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) permits tax credits for individuals who purchase their health insurance through a Federal health insurance marketplace (Federal Exchange), not just for indivi

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced the settlement of a complaint alleging deceptive trade practices in relation to a crowdfunding campaign.

On June 24, the US Senate passed the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, which will empower the Obama Administration to negotiate new trade agreements with its Pacific Rim and European Union trading partners based on strong congressional parameters.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-member panel of the NLRB held that a generic conflict of interest rule in an employee handbook violated the National Labor Relations Act because it could give employees the impression that they could not engage in union activity protected by the Act.

The US Attorney General announced a “takedown” of 243 defendants over the last three days, representing the largest health care fraud enforcement effort in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force’s eight-year history and the largest criminal health care fraud action in the history of the Justice Department.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Dish Network LLC lawfully fired a quadriplegic customer service representative who used validly licensed medical marijuana, rejecting the employee’s argument that the company violated a state law that protects workers who engage in lawful off-duty conduct.

On June 17, 2015, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) published a long-awaited proposed rule setting forth revisions to the current regulations governing the 340B Drug Discount Program (340B Program) as set forth in 42 C.F.R. part 10 (Proposed Rule).

The FBI and United States Justice Department announced a joint investigation into the front-office of the St. Louis Cardinals, one of baseball’s top teams for the last two decades, for allegedly hacking into the internal networks of rival Houston Astros to steal proprietary player information.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General issued a Fraud Alert, reminding physicians that they will be held liable under the anti-kickback statute for compensation arrangements that do not reflect fair market value compensation for bona fide services they provide.

The United States District Court in Nevada issued an Order on June 1, 2015 dismissing the complaint filed by alleged victims of a data security breach suffered by Amazon.com d/b/a Zappos.com (Zappos).

The Federal Trade Commission sent a new warning for companies engaged in geolocation tracking. Specifically, the FTC recently reached a settlement agreement with Nomi Technologies, a company that offers services allowing retailers to track the movements of customers in and around their stores.

After the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently indicated that it will aggressively pursue claims by transgender workers who have been discriminated against in the workplace, employers have had to assess their policies and practices to make sure they are in compliance.