On December 1, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a proposed rule that included numerous changes for accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”) in light of the experience CMS gained during the first two years of the program ...
It has long been known that Greenland possesses vast amounts of mineral resources. But due to climate changes, resulting in a rapid meltdown of ice caps in the Arctic regions, it is now getting easier to discover and exploit the mineral resources. The costs of exploring and exploiting minerals continue to decrease, and many experts believe that Greenland will become the next frontier within the mining industry ...
In an opinion published on November 11, 2014, Connecticut joined a growing number of jurisdictions that have found that state law causes of action based on a health care provider’s unauthorized disclosure of a patient’s medical records are not preempted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) ...
Offsite drilling is becoming increasing prevalent in the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas. Consequently, many in the industry were closely following a dispute between two neighboring operators in the Eagle Ford Shale area in which one operator opposed a neighboring operator’s plans to use offsite drilling. On October 29, 2014, the San Antonio Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiff lease owner, Lightning Oil Co ...
With the recent announcement to extend the waivers of certain fraud and abuse laws for accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), ACOs can continue using the waivers in their current form - at least for now ...
On October 3, 2014 the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), released a proposed rule to add new safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and to amend the definition of “remuneration” in the Civil Monetary Penalties (“CMP”) regulations. The OIG additionally solicited comments on same which must be submitted no later than 5 pm EST on December 2, 2014 ...
On October 3, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada, by a majority decision of 5 to 4,1 confirmed that a disposition ordering the treatment of an accused who is found unfit to stand trial requires the prior consent of the designated hospital to all the terms of the disposition order, inclusive of the date on which the treatment is to begin ...
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) on September 24, 2014 seeking comments on improving safety for operations related to helicopters, helidecks and aviation fuel systems on fixed offshore facilities. Comments on the ANPR are due November 24, 2014. The ANPR was issued just days after BSEE and the U.S ...
Based on a recent decision in West Virginia’s 3rd Judicial Circuit, which includes Doddridge, Pleasants and Ritchie counties, the use of litigation in the form of partition suits may be more problematic than it otherwise has been for oil and gas operators attempting to acquire property interests to create efficient drilling units for their planned wells. The Court’s decision (described below) denied a mineral interest owner’s request to partition by sale under W. Va. Code § 37-4-1 et seq ...
The Law 1450 of 2011 by means of which it was issued the National Development Plan for the period 2011-2014 provided in its article 112 the creation of a Single Registry of Marketers of Minerals ("RUCOM" by its acronyms in Spanish), which is managed by the National Mining Agency ("ANM" by its acronyms in Spanish) in order to control the marketing of minerals in Colombia ...
This morning, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) filed a proposed interpretive rule (the “Interpretive Rule”) with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office implementing, in part, the recent Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), which was enacted in response to the January 9, 2014 event that contaminated the water supply of approximately 300,000 West Virginia residents across nine counties ...
In an unanimous decision dated September 4, 20141 , the Court of Appeal confirmed that the 45-day time limit under the Act Respecting Health Services and Social Services2 (ARHSSS) to allow the medical examiner and the local service quality and complaints commissioner to process a user complaint is not mandatory but rather serves to indicate that the Legislator intends the complaint to be diligently processed ...
The Polish Parliament is working on a bill known as the “Landscape Act,” which is intended to introduce effective mechanisms for protecting the landscape. But an unintended consequence could be to block the construction of aerial masts, power lines and wind turbines, rather than merely regulate their location. The Sejm is currently working on a bill proposed by the President of Poland entitled the Act Amending Certain Acts to Strengthen Tools for Protection of the Landscape ...
Action: On August 20, 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Risk Management, Financial Assurance and Loss Prevention.1 In a news release announcing the ANPR, BOEM described the ANPR as instituting a “dialogue” with industry and others on how to improve its risk management program by “modernizing” its current regulations, which are approximately 20 years old.Comments on the ANPR are due October 20, 2014 ...
Mexico’s package of energy reform laws (“Energy Law” – nine new laws and amendments to twelve existing laws) became a reality with its promulgation on Monday, August 11, 2014. With the enactment of the Energy Law, Mexico finally joins the international mainstream of energy resource development and management. This alert addresses only the oil and gas aspects of the reform ...
The draft regulations for OTC derivatives have been released, which means that change is in the air. The government is stepping forward into unchartered territory and is set to regulate an area which has never been regulated before. Following our recent breaking news on the draft regulations, ENSafrica will, over the coming weeks and months, unpack the regulations for you, highlighting all the essentials. What follows is a sneak peak at affected areas and a snapshot of the bigger picture ...
International Oil Companies (IOCs) that have been eyeing East Africa may want to look beyond established jurisdictions like Kenya and Mozambique. Across the water that is, to the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Comoros. All three islands offer interesting opportunities, but in this short article I’ll be concentrating on just one of them – Seychelles ...
On July 16, 2014, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that a “health care provider can bring the Medicare Secondary Payer Act’s (“MSP’s”) private cause of action against a non-group health plan that denies coverage for a reason besides Medicare eligibility.” In Michigan Spine & Brain Surgeons, PLLC v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the Court clarified a key holding in its prior decision in Bio-Medical Applications of Tennessee, Inc. v ...
On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision confirming aboriginal title to approximately five percent of the Tsilhqot’in First Nation’s traditional territory in British Columbia. This decision is very significant because it marks the first time a ruling defines aboriginal title “on the ground”. ABORIGINAL RIGHTS The Constitution Act, 1982 provides that existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are recognized and affirmed ...
In French v. Occidental Permian, Ltd., No. 12-1002 (Tex. June 27, 2014), the Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on how to calculate royalties where production is obtained through an enhanced recovery technique like the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) ...
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). Considered to be one of the most successful pieces of legislation ever enacted, the Hatch-Waxman Amendments created the modern generic drug industry, which is responsible for dramatically increasing the availabilty of low-cost generic drugs and saving the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars ...
The Texas Supreme Court has held that a mineral lessee enjoys surface rights over a pooled tract even if that tract is not producing oil or gas. Key Operating & Equip., Inc. v. Hegar, No. 01-10-00350-CV, 2014 WL 2789933 (Tex. Jun. 20, 2014). Mineral lessee Key pooled part of a 191-acre tract (the Curbo tract) with an adjoining tract (the Richardson tract) to form a single unit. Key used a road across the Curbo tract to reach oil and gas operations on the Richardson tract ...
On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its much anticipated program to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants to address climate change ...
LabMD, Inc. renewed its argument that the FTC lacks authority to regulate the data security practices of HIPAA covered entities by appealing the dismissal of its case for lack of jurisdiction (see our coverage here) to the Eleventh Circuit. LabMD also filed an emergency motion seeking expedited briefing and requesting an order enjoining the administrative proceedings until the appellate court rules on the merits of its argument ...
