As we stated in our bulletin last week, on March 31st, the federal government outlined proposed actions relating to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), a key component of the healthcare reform legislation (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) enacted in March 2010. In this bulletin, we provide some additional information regarding each of the March 31st releases ...
Consent to End-of-Life Care Article 11 of the Civil Code of Québec1 states that no one can be made to undergo care without his consent. The Act respecting end-of-life care2 ("the Act"), passed by the National Assembly of Québec, came into force on December 15, 2015. Since that date, a person can give or refuse consent to specific forms of end-of-life care, provided he has given advance medical directives ("AMDs") for that purpose ...
ENSafrica recently released Africa Regulatory Insight: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulatory Measures. This comprehensive report outlines the COVID-19 regulatory measures for each country across Sub-Sahara Africa, providing the sector, measure, effective date/status and key points and impact for each region. The information provided herein is intended to provide a general overview, and is not an exhaustive list of all legislatice developments across Sub-Sahara ...
We have been in the UAE helping clients manage and survive crises for 45 years, and these are unprecedented times in our lives. We will have to work together to overcome the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we at Afridi & Angell are ready to do our part. Until the end of March, we will offer free advice on legal issues affecting companies and employers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Since it came into force on September 1, 2022, the Select Luxury Items Tax Act1 has caused quite a stir in the aviation industry. Many of those operating in the industry have voiced their discontent, claiming that the tax affects their competitiveness on the international stage. In general, the luxury tax applies to the sale, lease or import of certain aircraft costing more than $100,000 ...
When Alabama’s Legislature convenes for its annual session on February 2, lawmakers will once again be asked to consider a bill that would provide certain Alabamians with access to medical cannabis ...
CMS approved the Alabama Medicaid Agency’s applicationfor a 1115 Demonstration on October 21, 2021. The 1115 Demonstration, in combination with a 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (“HCSB”) Waiver and a 1915(i) Medicaid State Plan HCBS Program, will facilitate the creation of a new Community Waiver Program (the “Program”) ...
On January 23, the Internal Revenue Service published its long-awaited final rule on intermediate sanctions in the Federal Register. Proposed regulations were published in 1998, followed by temporary and proposed regulations in January 2001. The rule implements the excise taxes on excess benefit transactions under Section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code, which was enacted by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ...
Late last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule intended to prohibit hospitals operating certain off-campus provider-based departments (PBDs) from billing under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). In an effort to implement Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, CMS says the proposed rule will save about $500 million a year by refocusing payments on the patient rather than the clinical setting ...
The home health industry could see its profit margins shrink further as a result of proposed updates to the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier this week. This is the fourth and final year of payment reductions mandated by the Affordable Care Act in response to perceived Medicare overpayments to home health agencies. Profit margins are estimated to average 17.2% for the home health industry, and $17 ...
It’s been widely reported that various luxury brand owners have brought legal proceedings in the USA against Alibaba, the Chinese online shopping giant that recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The claim is that Alibaba has knowingly made it possible for companies to sell counterfeit products on its platform ...
The Biden administration is instructing the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work ...
This week we learned that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan Chase have joined forces to tackle employee healthcare costs. This announcement marks yet another chapter in some employers' frustration with our nation’s healthcare system. Employees are equally tired of the increasing cost of healthcare eating away what should be their wage increases even as employers pay for ever increasing health insurance premiums ...
Some brands simply seem to play a major role in our lives – Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix. These are brands that for many of us have become something of an ever present. One brand that surely belongs on that list is Amazon, one of the most important, influential and high-profile brands in the world. Brand Finance recently declared Amazon to be the world’s most valuable brand, valuing it at USD 50 billion. So, it makes sense to keep abreast of what is going on there ...
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday published its long awaited revisions to the FTC’s Franchising Rule. The new disclosures may be used effective July 1, 2007 and must be used for all franchises offered or sold after July 1, 2008. The Amended Rule prescribes a disclosure format which largely mirrors the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular ("UFOC") format, and modifies it in certain places by adding new disclosures ...
The government has approved, by royal decree-law, a legal reform introducing a number of changes to the Retail Trade Law. Royal Decree-Law 20/2018, of December 7, 2018, on urgent measures to foster economic competitiveness in the industrial and trading sectors in Spain, published in the Official State Gazette last Saturday, December 8, amends Retail Trade Law 7/1996, of January 15,1996 ...
In connection with the adoption of a new law on the ethical treatment of clinical trials of medical devices, the Folketing has made a number of changes to the rules on the affiliation and financial support of pharmaceutical and medical companies to healthcare professionals. The amendments will enter into force on 26 May 2021 ...
Beginning next month, used car dealers in West Virginia may sell vehicles directly to consumers without a single warranty that the vehicles are operational or safe to drive. The so-called “As Is” bill – approved last March by the West Virginia Legislature – will allow merchants to make sales on an “as is” basis, effectively eliminating any implied warranties about a vehicle’s merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose ...
On June 28, 2005, amendments to Articles 420 and 421 as well as the addition of a new Article 414bis of the Health Law were published in the Federal Official Gazette, entering into force the following day. Article 414bis provides that herbal products, food supplements, perfumes and beauty products may be seized, as a precautionary measure, when they have been improperly advertised by being held out as medicines or as having characteristics or therapeutic qualities which they do not have ...
On 9 July 2020, the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 (Bill) was passed at the Legislative Council. The Bill introduces amendments to the Employment Ordinance (Ordinance) to extend the statutory maternity leave period from 10 weeks to 14 weeks, and technical amendments to rationalise the current statutory maternity leave regime (Amendments). We summarise the effect of the Amendments as follows: Current position New position 1 ...
On July 25, 2016, China Food and Drug Administration (“CFDA”) published the latest "Measures for the Administration of Drug Registration (revised draft)” (“Latest Revised Draft”) for public comments1 ...
A Bill to amend the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) (the Act) has been introduced into the Victorian Parliament. When the Bill becomes law, it will remove the requirement to notify the Small Business Commissioner of new leases under section 25 of the Act ...
All eyes were on health care in 2020, as the industry faced unprecedented challenges presented by the global coronavirus pandemic. Stories and images of overburdened frontline health care workers dominated the news cycle for most of the year, and the rapid development of one or more seemingly effective vaccines has engendered a cautious optimism for a return to normalcy in 2021 ...
We knew this year was going to be an especially bad one for the flu. In its November 2019 issue, Scientific American, one of the country's leading science publications, included a twenty-page article titled "The Influenza Outlook", which highlighted the escalating threat of influenza for the year 2020. Unfortunately, at present, the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus makes the flu pale by comparison ...
Earlier this month, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a suit against Vitas Hospice Services, L.L.C. and its subsidiary entities (“Vitas”) alleging that Vitas submitted false claims for hospice services which were excessive, unnecessary, or not provided, and also alleging that Vitas admitted patients to hospice who were not terminally ill ...
