Health Law Advisor

With the passage of A.B. 30, California became the first state to require all acute-care hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans. After years of wrangling with California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal OSHA”), the law became effective on April 1, 2018.

This statute was conceived by Cal OSHA, in conjunction with unions such as the California Nurses Association to address the high risk of workplace injuries faced by health care workers daily. Overall, health care workers ...

The long-running saga of the Medicare appeals backlog added a new chapter that may give frustrated stakeholders a new remedy.[1]  On March 27, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that a home health agency may pursue a claim against the Secretary of HHS for failing to provide a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge within a reasonable time.  Family Rehabilitation, Incorporated v. Azar, No. 17-11337 (5^th Cir., Mar. 27, 2018).

In this case, Family Rehabilitation (“Family”) received a notice from a Medicare Zone Integrity Program Contractor ...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued on April 2, 2018, an advanced copy of the final rule title “Medicare Program; Contract Year 2019 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Cost Plan, Medicare Fee-for-Service, the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs, and the PACE Program” (“Final Rule”). This Final Rule will be published in the April 16, 2018 issue of the Federal Register.

This Final Rule implements provisions of the proposed rule that CMS released titled “Medicare Program; Contract Year 2019 Policy and ...

Faced with the inability to repeal the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) outright, the Trump Administration and Congress have taken actions to provide more health insurance options for Americans.  Thus far, the Administration announced that they would no longer make cost sharing reduction (“CSR”) payments to insurers on the Exchanges and extended the time period in which short-term, limited-duration insurance (“STLDI”) plans could be offered.  Meanwhile, Congress removed the individual mandate in the 2017 tax bill. The Administration asserts that these efforts are all ...

Our colleagues David J. Clark and Erica R. McKinney at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Trade Secrets & Employee Mobility blog that will be of interest to our readers in the health care industry: “Mile High Non-Compete Law: Colorado Court of Appeals Determines Enforceability of Liquidated Damages Clause in Physician Non-Compete Agreement.”

Following is an excerpt:

The Colorado Court of Appeals, in Crocker v. Greater Colorado Anesthesia, P.C., recently examined several unique enforceability considerations with respect to a physician non-compete agreement.  Of ...

In March 2018, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) made its 2018 report to Congress, which included the Commission’s evaluation of telehealth services provided through the Medicaid program. Chapter 2 of MACPAC’s report had a positive outlook on telehealth’s contribution toward better accessibility of health care services to underserved individuals as well as individuals with disabilities.

Unlike its larger counterpart, Medicare, federal policy has not placed many restrictions on state Medicaid programs in terms of adopting or designing ...

Two cases decided over the last three months have added California[1] and Massachusetts[2] to the list of minority states that hold brand name manufacturers of drugs (“Brand Manufacturers”) liable under state “failure to warn” laws when sued by patients that exclusively used a generic version of the Brand Manufacturer’s drug.  These cases follow the US Supreme Court decision in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, 131 S. Ct. 2567 (2011) (“PLIVA”), which held that generic drug manufacturers cannot be held liable for failure to update the safety label of a drug or biologic in ...

In the midst of one of the worst flu seasons to date, many hospitals and other health care organizations enforced mandatory flu vaccine policies for their employees to boost vaccination rates. However, recent litigation and governmental actions should serve as a reminder that health care entities should carefully consider safeguards whenever implementing mandatory vaccine policies and to not categorically deny all requests for religious exemptions based on anti-vaccination beliefs.

In January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the formation of a ...

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”) met in Washington, DC, on March 1-2, 2018. The purpose of this and other public meetings of MedPAC is for the commissioners to review the issues and challenges facing the Medicare program and then make policy recommendations to Congress. MedPAC issues these recommendations in two annual reports, one in March and another in June. MedPAC’s meetings can provide valuable insight into the state of Medicare, the direction of the program moving forward, and the content of MedPAC’s next report to Congress.

As thought leaders in ...

In a significant decision on Wednesday, March 6, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held in EEOC v. R.G. &. G.R. Harris Funeral Homes that discrimination against a worker on the basis of gender identity or transitioning status constitutes sex discrimination that violates Title VII.

In R.G. & G.R., the funeral home’s owner fired funeral director Aime Stephens after she informed him she intended to begin a gender transition and present herself as a woman at work. In finding gender identity to be covered by Title VII, the Sixth Circuit also upheld the EEOC’s claim that ...