In late August, Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene ripped through much of the East Coast leaving a wake of storm and flood damage. Parts of North Carolina, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Puerto Rico have been declared federal disaster areas by the president. The specific counties of each state and territory that have been declared federal disaster areas are available here ...
The federal banking agencies issued two interim final rules this week providing temporary relief to community banks that are deciding whether to opt in to the community bank leverage ratio (“CBLR”) framework. The interim final rules reflect the agencies’ actions to implement Section 4012 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which requires them to temporarily lower the CBLR to 8 percent (from 9 percent) ...
Later this month, new rules will make it easier for smaller companies to access capital. The new rules, referred to as “Regulation A+", were adopted earlier this year by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). To amend and expand the exemption for public offerings afforded by Regulation A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as mandated by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”) ...
When I became a judicial law clerk right out of law school, my boss, a federal judge in Houston, Texas, explained to me that the goal of his job (and therefore mine) was to find the right answer and do the right thing. That was, in a sense, easy enough. Research the law, and figure out how it applies to the particular facts of each case — because following the law is the right thing to do. Of course, judges will disagree about how the law should apply ...
*This article is the first in a three-part series regarding government worksite audits and inspections and what employers can do to mitigate risk and liability to their businesses.* January 2011Sending a clear message that there will be no abatement in the aggressive federal enforcement of U.S ...
The Department of Health and Human Services recently released a letter that stated that using a single ventilator for two patients should be considered “an absolute last resort.” Of course, this statement assumes that a ventilator exists in the first place, and it says nothing about how to deal with several more than two patients needing the same ventilator. This, however, is only the tip of proverbial iceberg ...
Historically there has been relatively little enforcement focus on the typical physician-ownership model used by many ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). A qui tam lawsuit filed recently against an ambulatory surgery center company based in Nashville, however, indicates that qui tam relators are leaving no stone unturned as they look for cases. Although the federal government has declined to intervene in U.S. ex. rel Thomas Reed Simmons v. Meridian Surgical Partners, et ...
The impacts of the Americans with Disabilities Act loom largest in the public consciousness in the form of handicap-accessible parking spaces and entrance ramps — accommodations for physical access to public premises. But under the law, it also appears that businesses must make sure their websites and mobile apps are ADA-compliant. Derek Edwards is a partner at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, where he specializes in financial services litigation ...
Three proposed rules for the establishment of Affordable Insurance Exchanges – intended to create competitive marketplaces for private health insurance and a key component of the healthcare reform legislation enacted in March 2010 – were released today by Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury ...
In one of the first concrete developments related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changes following Dr Thomas E Price’s approval as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a Notice of Proposed Rule making was recently released by HHS. The recent release by HHS stated a goal of helping to stabilize the individual and small group marketplaces established by the ACA ...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released a proposed rule on the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. If enacted, the rule could create significant new hurdles for real estate development projects that are near streams or wetlands by effectively removing permitting authority from state agencies and establishing federal oversight by the EPA and the Corps ...
Members of the development community and businesses that currently have construction projects under way in Davidson County should be aware of a pending legislative proposal that would likely severely impact the ability to construct most projects in Nashville’s Mid-Town, Gulch, and downtown areas. Councilwoman Erica Gilmore has introduced an ordinance, BL2014-992, that is pending before the Metropolitan Council ...
The regulatory change proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the recent HIPAA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is another step toward HHS’s objective to encourage a patient-centric healthcare environment. The HIPAA NPRM proposes to tilt the balance of protecting privacy and facilitating the availability of information toward loosening restrictions on disclosures of patient information ...
On 12/3/13, the Tax Court decided Crescent Holdings LLC,1 which involved a $1.6 billion transaction. The Tax Court's opinion (1) underlines the fact that the exact language in an operating agreement does matter and (2) clearly demonstrates that compensatory partnership/LLC interests are technically complicated and require the active role of tax counsel. FACTS Duke Energy Corp ...
On October 14, 2021, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced a $25 million healthcare fraud settlement against a private equity firm and former executives of the firm’s portfolio company. The settlement is significant because it is the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the country to date against a private equity firm based on the firm’s oversight of its healthcare portfolio company ...
Scoring a win against a pandemic of class actions, Cadence Bank defeated a putative class action that had accused the bank of indifference to the Americans with Disabilities Act at its ATMs. The Plaintiff alleged that an ATM at one branch was not accessible, as required by standards that the banking and ATM industries have endeavored to meet since they became effective on March 15, 2012 ...
President Donald Trump announced that the federal government will halt payments known as cost share reduction (CSR) payments. The CSR payments amounted to approximately $7 billion this year, and served as a subsidy to enable lower-income Americans to afford health insurance coverage ...
Welcome to PointByPoint. Conversations, interviews and legal commentary for today's business professionals. In this episode, Waller’s Mark Peters talks with employment attorney Kierstin Jodway about two of the major federal stimulus packages related to the coronavirus and what it means for businesses. Here is a transcript of the conversation: Mark Kierstin, thanks for being with us today ...
As the COVID-19 outbreak spreads and officials recommend or impose increasingly restrictive steps to mitigate the impact to public health, more companies are assessing what impact the outbreak is likely to have on their business and are considering whether that impact may necessitate furloughing workers. Following is a summary of some of the core compliance issues employers should consider as they develop contingency plans that may include furloughs ...
As healthcare providers pursue transactions during and in the wake of COVID-19, both buyers and targets should prepare for heightened scrutiny during the due diligence process. Getting organized ahead of a sale can dramatically expedite timelines and reduce deal fatigue for all parties, particularly in light of the heavier-than-normal due diligence process as a result of the pandemic. Click here for a full PDF of this report ...
On November 15, 2012, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a report titled “Personal Care Services: Trends, Vulnerabilities, and Recommendations for Improvement,” which included a response from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ...
