In a landmark victory for Federally-qualified health centers, a California Court of Appeal confirmed last October that federal and state law requires the State of California to pay FQHCs “100 percent” of their costs of furnishing core and other ambulatory services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. (Tulare Pediatric Health Care Center v. State Department of Health Care Services (2nd Dist. 2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 163 ...
Today (16 July 2020), the ECJ handed down its long-awaited judgment on the validity of Standard Contractual Clauses in international data transfers (ECJ, judgment of 16 July 2020, case C-311/18). In a surprise move the Court of Justice declared the EU Commission's adequacy decision on the Privacy Shield - the agreement that allows data transfers to certain companies in the USA - to be invalid. On the other hand it confirmed the validity of the Standard Contractual Clauses ...
On July 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve published a number of changes to the Main Street Lending Program’s frequently asked questions, which FAQs were amended to provide further guidance on a number of issues. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston MSLP web page has links to clean and redline versions of the new FAQs: https://www.bostonfed.org/supervision-and-regulation/supervision/special-facilities/main-street-lending-program/information-for-lenders/docs ...
This is a briefing on the issuances as of July 16, 2020 on the following matters in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. General Community Quarantine (GCQ) over Metro Manila is Further Extended until July 31, 2020 B. Recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Issuances and Notices B.1. SEC Main Office Closed until July 26, 2020 B.2. SEC Notice to all Non-stock Corporations on the New Deadline for the Online Filing or Submission of the Mandatory Disclosure Form (MDF) B.3 ...
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has now made a further announcement concerning the extension of deadlines, to the effect that deadlines falling within March 16 to August 7, 2020, are extended to August 10, 2020. CIPO is otherwise still open for business and our IP team members have been continuing operations and transacting with CIPO on a regular basis, in a remote and secure manner ...
The Scheme On 29 June 2020, the Hong Kong Government launched the Pilot Scheme on Facilitation for Persons Participating in Arbitral Proceedings in Hong Kong (Scheme), under which (1) arbitrators, (2) expert and factual witnesses, (3) counsel and (4) parties to an arbitration are allowed to participate in arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong as visitors for a period not exceeding their visa-free period, without first obtaining employment visas which are normally required but for the Scheme ...
In what appears to be the first substantive dispositive ruling on a COVID-19 related business interruption insurance claim, a Michigan court has dismissed an insured’s business interruption claim, finding that the insured did not suffer a direct physical loss and no insurance coverage exists for the insured’s claim ...
On July 10, 2020, in United States v. Ruan, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions of two Alabama doctors for running an opiate “pill mill.” Among many other things, the government charged that the doctors used “incident to” billing to charge Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama under the doctor’s identification for visits conducted entirely by nurse practitioners, which that insurer (unlike some others) prohibited under its policy ...
On June 16, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 81. Its impact is significant for employers in the context of workers’ compensation. Governor DeWine touted the amendment that provided workers’ compensation coverage for medical diagnostic services to investigate whether a detention facility employee’s exposure to another’s blood or bodily fluids resulted in an injury or occupational disease ...
This 15th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, showcases new and evolving trends. This week we note how COVID-19 has accelerated a pre-existing trend toward class action litigation. And we discuss specific trends involving workplace safety, mask requirements, shutdown orders, quarantine enforcement, and prisoners’ rights. These cases, and others like them, show no signs of cooling down as the summer heats up ...
The National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) recently issued Notice No. 524, which provides that it will be possible to enter simple (scanned) digital copies of powers of attorney, without requiring the original document or an electronic document with an advanced electronic signature, thus making it possible to continue the processing of applications for registration, renewals, recordals, among others, during the quarantine period produced by Covid-19 ...
Resolution No. 61/202 of Chilean Tax Authority amends instructions on Certificate No. 66 on donations and expenses associated with the global outbreak of Covid-19 July 6, 2020 On June 17, the Internal Revenue Service issued the Resolution No. 61 through which it modified the Resolution No. 49, which creates the certificate that recipients must issue for the donations they receive in the context of the health crisis produced by Covid-19. According to Resolution No ...
UK and EU competition law provides that retailers must be free to determine their own resale prices. Actions by suppliers to restrict this freedom by dictating a fixed or minimum resale price are prohibited. The UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has vigorously enforced the law in this area, regularly pursuing investigations into and ultimately imposing fines on suppliers who engage in resale price maintenance ...
The current crisis has challenged the strength of all companies. It has forced businesses to quickly address new issues that often were outside their agenda earlier. During this period, most of businesses have managed to temporarily adapt, or radically change their processes and strategies; establish a flawless remote operation; transform the pattern of cooperation with counterparties and partners; reallocate resources and learn to communicate with their employees under crisis ...
By adopting the Act on the Establishment of the Economic Stabilization Fund of March 27, 2020, the German Parliament and the Federal Council established the Economic Stabilization Fund(“ESF”) as a special fund to stabilize the real economy in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESF is intended to support German companies in the real economy suffering from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing liquidity and capital support ...
Key Points The Supreme Court's upcoming decision regarding the Affordable Care Act could render its tax provisions retroactively unconstitutional. Depending on the outcome, there is a potential opportunity for refunds on open tax years for taxpayers who paid the net investment income tax and additional Medicare tax. For most taxpayers, the deadline for a protective claim of refund on a 2016 tax return, filed without extensions, is July 15, 2020 ...
The Ninth Circuit Holds that Callers are Subject to TCPA Liability if the Callers Intend to Make Automated Calls to a Consenting Customer, but Instead Call Someone Else Introduction On June 3, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dealt a blow to callers governed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) ...
Thousands of denied claims and hundreds of lawsuits pending around the country are testament to the fact that business interruption coverage for losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic depends on the existence of “physical loss or damage ...
With the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March 2020, the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) as well as the Recovery Movement Control Order, the Government has issued a number of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic ...
Key Points The cash value of employees’ donated leave time paid to a qualified charitable organization in 2020 under an employer-sponsored leave donation program is not taxable wages or compensation. Employers may take a tax deduction for such payments as a business expense or a charitable contribution ...
This 14th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, showcases new and evolving trends. Employers are facing claims for both doing too much and too little in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shutdown litigation is increasingly focusing on alleged disparate treatment between businesses and protesters, as well as broadening to encompass challenges to mask requirements ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
