On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law a $2 trillion emergency relief bill to ease the economic impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) and support response efforts. The CARES Act[1] included an allocation of $80 million in funding to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to continue its COVID-19 response efforts. The additional agency funding will be used, in part, for the development of medical countermeasures and vaccines ...
Through data analysis, hospitals can track denials, improve appeals success rates and recoup revenue losses that threaten their very survival. Early last year, when Modern Healthcare reported that a deluge of reimbursement claim denials had driven U.S. hospitals toward a “crisis point,” it highlighted an alarming market imbalance between payers and providers ...
We recently discussed how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) allocates $100 billion to the Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund, to be distributed as relief funds to hospitals and other healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response (“Provider Relief Fund”) ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), a historic $2 trillion relief package signed into law on March 27, 2020, seeks to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on several industries ...
Section 3513, one of the many provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), addresses the handling of most federal student loans. The CARES Act suspends all loan payments through September 30, 2020, for certain types of student loans made or held by the United States Department of Education: Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans, Federal Direct Grad PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans ...
Amidst the rising number of mortgage loan forbearances due to COVID-19, Ginnie Mae has stepped in to limit the damage to issuers with its PTAP/C19 program. The CARES Act provides borrowers with temporary protections in light of the economic distress caused by COVID-19. The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, includes a series of protections for borrowers whose financial security has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ...
While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the adoption of certain piecemeal consumer protection policies and/or guidances by individual states and the federal government, there have yet to be any sweeping changes to existing federal consumer debt collection laws or regulations in the wake of the pandemic. There has been a push, though, for the enactment of comprehensive consumer protection provisions ...
On April 17, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives seeking to create the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020. The primary feature of the bill is it would suspend all rent and mortgage payments due during the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning on April 1, 2020 and ending 30 days after the termination of the pandemic by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The tenants and mortgagees would have no responsibility to ever make those payments ...
The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption of business worldwide, and many businesses and organisations will be scouring their current contracts to identify avenues of relief. In many cases, the pages containing the force majeure clause will be the first to be turned ...
As part of a package of economic measures worth EUR 5.1 billion, the Serbian Government adopted a decree on 16 April 2020 establishing a guarantee scheme for loans to be provided by local banks to businesses to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (the “COVID-19 Guarantee Scheme”) ...
Below is a summary of key new measures that have been implemented by various UAE authorities since 15 April 2020 and the time of this inBrief, 12:00 noon on Saturday, 18 April 2020. Dubai’s National Disinfection Programme extended On 17 April 2020, Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management extended the 24-hour National Disinfection Programme for another week. The programme, which began on 5 April 2020, was initially scheduled to end on 18 April 2020 ...
The COVID-19 crisis has triggered an unprecedented response of federal and state relief programs to provide health care resources and economic relief. Once the country moves past the immediate crisis, the government will take a hard look at emergency payments. Along with $2 trillion in relief, the CARES Act established a new law enforcement authority within the Treasury Department: the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (the SIGPR) ...
On April 15, 2020, by means of Decree 559 of 2020, the President of the Republic ordered the creation of the Sub-account for emergency mitigation – Covid 19- within the National Fund for Disaster Risk Management. Its purpose will be to finance the provision of goods, services and works required to contain, mitigate and prevent the spread of the adverse effects derived from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Colombian population in condition of vulnerability ...
Recently, the National Government has extended the preemptive mandatory isolation measure through Decree 531 of 2020. This has led to a review of the measured that had already been taken in the transport and infrastructure sector through Decree 482 of 2020 ...
Covid-19 is a so-called droplet transmitted virus, which means that the virus is spread through droplets which are expelled when an infected person e.g. coughs, sneezes or speaks. In order to reduce the risk of infection, it is of great importance that healthcare personnel have access to protective equipment in the form of e.g. visors, face masks, gloves and overalls ...
Even against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 pandemic (“corona”), cities, municipalities, and municipal associations need to continue to be efficient and, above all, capable of making decisions. This article provides an overview of the problems they are facing and offers some possible solutions. Problem Numerous scheduled meetings have been canceled and remain suspended until further notice ...
In the sensational decision of 14 May 2019 (Case C-55/18), the ECJ ruled that the Member States must oblige employers to introduce an "objective, reliable and accessible system enabling the duration of time worked each day by each worker to be measured”. The decision was largely understood primarily as an appeal to the legislators of the Member States to implement the EU legal requirements ...
A new ordinance n°2020-427 of 15 April 2020 on various provisions regarding deadlines for dealing with the covid-19 epidemic (the “Deadlines Ordinance of 15 April 2020”), presented to the Council of Ministers on 15 April, was published in the Official Journal on 16 April 2020, as it was eagerly awaited by real estate and construction professionals, as well as by the renewable energy sector ...
What is it? The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan program geared toward small businesses dealing with the jarring disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). It is a part of the larger $2 trillion CARES Act and run through the Small Business Administration. It provides $350 billion in loans to help businesses keep their workforce employed during COVID-19 crisis. Who can apply? The PPP provides loans to business with fewer than 500 employees ...
The Supreme Court this past week denied certiorari in United States ex rel. Schneider v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., an appeal from a D.C. Circuit case affirming the district court’s dismissal of a qui tam FCA action. See No. 19-678, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 2079 (Apr. 6, 2020). In so doing, the Court declined to address the emerging circuit split over the extent of the government’s dismissal power in qui tam cases ...
On April 13, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) issued guidelines on safety practices for critical workers who may have had exposure to a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 ...
On April 9, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Q&As on COVID-19 issues. The EEOC has also updated its guidance during a pandemic for employers relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following are some highlights from these updates. Medical Inquiries and Exams In the updated guidance, the EEOC indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic meets the definition of a direct threat ...
COVID-19 related Executive Orders from Governor Newsom and shelter-in-place orders from County Health Officers in the Bay Area have restricted construction activities during this healthcare emergency. These restrictions apply to private projects and public works construction projects, although public works projects have broader flexibility to proceed. This alert will summarize how public works projects in the Bay Area can continue under the current orders ...
Governor Ivey in her State of the State address on February 4 argued forcefully that Alabama must do more to attract physicians (and nurse-practitioners) to practice in the rural, under-served areas of the state. Unfortunately, one of the only current tax incentives to do so—a $5,000 income tax credit that can be claimed over a 5 consecutive year period--has been the source of many audits and administrative and Alabama Tax Tribunal appeals ...
