Effective on April 6, 2020, an Order was published to establish the technical guidelines (the “Technical Guidelines”) for the activities described in Article 1, Section II, sub-sections (c) and (e) of the order that adopted extraordinary measures to deal with the health emergency caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus” (the “Order”). (We published an article on the Order, which may be foundhere ...
On March 30, 2020, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services ("Secretary") announced a blanket waiver ("Waiver") of sanctions for violations of Section 1877 of the Social Security Act, also known as the physician self-referral law or Stark law ("Stark Law") ...
Telehealth is not a new concept, but it has been accelerated to the forefront recently by government mandated social distancing. While all of the "stay-at-home" orders issued across the country to date have included exceptions that permit individuals to leave their homes to seek medical treatment, providers may feel an obligation to offer telehealth services to protect not only their patients, but also the provider's staff, and to support the national effort to "flatten the curve ...
The West Virginia Legislature adjourned its 60-day Regular Session sine die on March 7, 2020. By the time the clock struck midnight, 356 bills ultimately completed the legislative process and were sent to Governor Justice for his approval. Under the West Virginia Constitution, the Governor had until midnight on March 25, 2020 to take action on those bills. The Governor signed all but five of the bills passed during the regular session ...
In times of emergency, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the "Secretary") has authority to issue temporary waivers or modifications of certain Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and HIPAA requirements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") has released a substantial number of waivers in response to the coronavirus national emergency ...
On March 17, 2020, the Trump administration announced an expansion of Medicare coverage for virtual health services. The Medicare expansion is intended to make medical offices more available to people who need to be seen in-person and to mitigate the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Medicare can now pay for office, hospital, and other visits furnished via virtual services across the country, including a patient’s place of residence, starting March 6, 2020 ...
Over the weekend, Governor Justice signed two new executive orders—Order 20-20 and Order 21-20—that further limit permissible activities in six West Virginia counties: Berkeley, Harrison, Jefferson, Kanawha, Monongalia, and Morgan. Under these orders, outdoor activities are further restricted to a maximum of five people and essential business and operations are directed, to the maximum extent possible, to order their employees and contractors to work remotely ...
With national governments scrambling to take measures in order to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, we are again confronted with the fact that a EU common policy in the healthcare field is quasi inexistent. This is equally so in respect of the pricing and reimbursement of medicines ...
The new measures adopted by the European Commission Last Friday, the European Commission (“Commission”) has adopted an amendment to existing State aid rules to widen the perimeter of the national measures which can be authorized based on the exceptional legal framework to cope with the current crisis. a. In particular, the Commission considered the following measures:a. More support for research and development related to the current health crisis ...
South Africa is in lockdown in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and although we aren’t able to meet face-to-face over this period, we know how important it is to stay in touch, and we will continue to keep you up-to-date on recent tax developments. In this regard, it feels like a lifetime ago that the South African Minister of Finance delivered his 2020 Budget Speech on 26 February 2020 ...
This memorandum is intended to provide information on measures undertaken by the Icelandic government in response to disruption of businesses on account of the SARSCoV2 virus. The memo will be updated as the occasion arises. Status as on Tuesday 31 March 2020 On 31 March 2020, the Icelandic Parliament (Althingi) passed amendments to various laws in order to implement the government´s announced measures in response to COVID-19 ...
On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a temporary rule regarding the implementation of the emergency paid sick leave and Expanded Family and Medical Leave (“EFMLA”) requirements established by the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). The DOL temporary rule covers significant ground in terms of delineating workers’ and employers’ rights and responsibilities under the FFCRA ...
The Novel Coronavirus continues to disrupt nearly every industry, including our own. In response to this and the various hardships and logistical headaches it has created, the SEC has issued certain exemptions affecting filing and delivery deadlines. For more information on this, see SEC Corona Virus Response. However, on April 2, the SEC announced that is not planning any similar actions regarding the implementation of Regulation Best Interest or Form CRS ...
On April 2, 2020, Governor Newson issued Executive Order N-42-20 ("Executive Order") in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This order restricts the ability of water service providers to shut off water to certain customers for non-payment. All Residential Water Service Providers Affected All water service providers providing residential water service, regardless of size, are affected by this Executive Order ...
SALT Cap Workarounds Six states have now enacted passthrough entity-level taxes (PTE taxes) that in many cases are avowed attempts to mitigate the loss of, or at least the limitation on, state and local tax deductions by their individual owners as a result of IRC section 164(b)(6), the so-called SALT cap. Connecticut was the first, and only state so far, that imposes a mandatory PTE tax. The other five states each offer the election, the latest being New Jersey ...
Compliance with environmental regulations is challenging under the best of circumstances, but the COVID-19 crisis and measures taken in response add a new layer of complexity. The lack of a consistent message from elected officials and health officers, on the one hand, and from federal and state environmental regulators, on the other, creates a quandary for the business community ...
“With our nation’s health care providers on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, dollars and cents shouldn’t be adding to their worries.” - CMS Administrator Seema Verma. During this Public Health Emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has expanded its accelerated and advanced payment program (“Program”) to all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers (“Providers”) ...
On March 31, seven Bay Area counties issued stricter shelter-in-place orders and extended their effectiveness to at least May 3 (collectively, the “Orders”). As of the morning of April 2, Napa County noted that it will be joining the other Bay Area counties. Solano County extended the effectiveness of its order, but declined to tighten restrictions ...
As a growing number of the workforce is being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, governmental employers are raising benefit-related questions. The Employee Benefits Group at Hanson Bridgett will be providing updated information on possible issues arising in the benefits area through Benefits Alerts and postings on Hanson Bridgett's Online COVID-19 Resource Center ...
Like most industries, tech startups have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As they scramble to adapt to a rapidly changing climate, tech leaders are asking if, and to what extent, their businesses can benefit from the $2 trillion stimulus package known as the CARES Act ...
Among its other consequences, the ongoing global outbreak of Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an economic crisis. In this legal update we present insolvency law issues which may arise during the crisis and we also propose practical solutions for dealing with challenges that companies may face. 1 ...
On 26 March 2020, directions were issued by the Minister of Home Affairs pursuant to the regulations published in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 to provide temporary measures in respect of entry into or exit out of South Africa in order to prevent and combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID‑19) ...
On the 17thof March, we gave an overview on the options available for the governments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to support companies being harmed by the COVID-19 crisis. At that time we noted that companies should work with the government in order to ensure that the measures taken truly help the companies survive the crisis ...
