Health Law Advisor

Evan Rosen and Mark M. Trapp of the Labor and Employment practice co-wrote an article titled "What To Know About ACA Collective Bargaining."

Following is an excerpt:

For the unionized employer, the advent of the Affordable Care Act requires careful strategic thought about its impact on upcoming collective bargaining negotiations. Indeed, for companies with a unionized workforce, the ACA poses additional challenges and strategic considerations above and beyond those confronting nonunionized workforces.

Click here to read the full article.

Telehealth is going mainstream. Once limited to rural or remote communities, the use of telehealth is increasingly being used to address critical shortages within many medical specialties (such as dermatology, neurology, radiology, critical care and mental health), and as a more efficient means to provide health care services. Many leading nationally-recognized health care providers, health plans and others have significant telehealth initiatives underway often in partnership with telecommunications vendors and government entities.  And developments in this space tend ...

As the technologies used to deliver telehealth services become more complex, telehealth providers as well as other HIPAA “covered entities” have an increasingly demanding role to play in ensuring the security of protected health information (PHI).  To fulfill this role, both telehealth providers and their business associates (such as the information technology companies and data storage providers that support telehealth platforms) must implement not only technical safeguards, but also physical security measures.  From locks, to security guards, to alarm systems ...

During and after a recent presentation regarding telehealth before a health care executive group, we were inundated with the following question:  Why should a hospital provide telehealth services when often times it will not get paid for those services?  It is, on its face, a great question.  After all, few of us would want to provide services we know will not be reimbursed.  But, in many ways, the question misses the boat.  While a hospital may not be paid directly for providing telehealth services, it nevertheless could significantly benefit in a number of ways that prove just as valuable ...

The April 2013 issue of Take 5 was written by David W. Garland, Chair of Epstein Becker Green's Labor and Employment Steering Committee and a Member of the Firm in the New York and Newark offices.

In it, he summarizes five recent labor and employment actions that employers should consider:

1. EEOC Releases Letter Addressing Wellness Programs and Reasonable Accommodation Obligations
2. Paying Interns May Not Be Enough to Stave Off Wage and Hour Claims
3. House Committee Votes Out Bill Prohibiting NLRB from Acting Without a Quorum
4. New York City Human Rights Law Expanded to Prohibit ...

by: Kathleen M. Williams

A long-awaited decision on the jurisdiction of Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) over health care providers was released this week.  The decision, UPMC Braddock v. Seth Harris(Acting Secretary of Labor), by Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, upholds broad and deep OFCCP jurisdiction – meaning that hospitals and other health care providers will be required to write affirmative action plans, track and report the race and sex of applicants, and be subjected to ...

Our colleagues at Epstein Becker Green have issued a client alert: "OIG Issues Updated Guidelines for Evaluating State False Claims Acts: Is More State Litigation on the Horizon?," by George B. Breen, Wendy C. Goldstein, and Daniel C. Fundakowski.

Following is an excerpt:

On March 15, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General ("OIG") released the Updated OIG Guidelines for Evaluating State False Claims Acts ("2013 Guidelines), which replaces the original version released in 2006.

The 2013 Guidelines describe OIG's methodology for ...

Too often, companies try to re-invent the wheel.  This is especially true in the telehealth sector where new models of care are constantly being tried and tested.  Fortunately for U.S. hospitals, health systems, and companies, however, we have great examples of telehealth models from around the world that have built successful business models in telehealth.

Take the example of Calydial, a company based in Lyon, France, that specializes in remote dialysis. Launched in 2006, Calydial started with 25 patients with renal impairment who needed remote treatment and monitoring. Today ...

Our colleagues at Epstein Becker Green have issued a client alert: "Federally Facilitated Exchanges Are Almost Ready," by Linda V. Tiano.

Following is an excerpt:

On March 1, 2013, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight ("CCIIO") and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") released lengthy and detailed draft guidance regarding the federally facilitated exchanges ("FFEs") that will operate in the 26 states that have chosen not to establish their own exchange or partner with CMS. Although the guidance was issued in draft form, CCIIO and CMS allowed ...

Allen Roberts, a Member of Firm in the Labor and Employment practice and co-chair of the firm's Whistleblowing and Compliance Subpractice Group, in the New York office, wrote an article titled "Impact: Employers Brace for Change – Top 5 Issues Facing Businesses, as appeared in Insurance Advocate."

Following is an excerpt:

By popular account, the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") would preserve the base of insureds and extend health insurance coverage to as many as another 32 million Americans. That estimate could be wrong if ACA disrupts patterns and experience of spouse and dependent ...