By: Stephen C. Hall, contributing author Dasha Kolyaskina, Wyatt Summer Associate
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted certiorari on a question arising from a copyright dispute between Unicolors and H&M.[1] In its opinion expected next year, the Supreme Court could resolve an intra-circuit split on whether deceptive or fraudulent ...
By: Courtney Samford, contributing author Blake Sims, Wyatt Summer Associate
Employers commonly supply computer and work devices to employees and state that the electronics may only be used for business related purposes, and employers have always had the ability to discipline employees who violate computer use policies through improper ...
By: Courtney Samford
Earlier this month, the EEOC released a new technical assistance document that explains the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, as well as other resources to educate employees, applicants and employers about the rights of all employees, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers. In ...
In Mahanoy Area School District v. Levy, the Supreme Court ruled on June 23, 2021 that a public high school violated the First Amendment when it disciplined a high school student for Snapchat posting vulgar language and gestures criticizing the school and its cheerleading team after she didn’t make the varsity squad. Key here: the student’s ...
On June 17, 2021, the Biden Administration announced it will invest more than $3 billion toward the discovery, development, and manufacturing of antiviral medicines.
Through collaboration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Institute of Allergy ...
The CDC recently updated its COVID-19 guidance for colleges and universities. In general, the guidance addresses ways to offer and promote the COVID-19 vaccination, guidance for institutions of higher education (“IHE”) where everyone is fully vaccinated, guidance for IHEs where everyone is not vaccinated, and general considerations ...
On May 26, 2021, the FDA released an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for sotrovimab. In response, on February 17, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it had created a new HCPCS code, effective May 26, 2021, for sotrovimab when administered in a healthcare setting or the home in accordance with the FDA ...
On June 11, 2021, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an Executive Order lifting Kentucky’s face covering mandate. Individuals are not required to wear face coverings except if they are in a healthcare or long-term care setting or on public transportation.
The Executive Order recommended, but did not mandate, that face coverings be worn by any person in ...
On June 11, 2021, Health and Human Services announced that physicians, hospitals, and other health-care providers will now have 90 days to report payments received from the government’s coronavirus relief fund. HHS extended the deadline from 30 days. HHS administers the fund, which is designed to help health-care entities that have ...
On June 12, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by employees of a Houston hospital system over its requirement that all of its staff be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Houston Methodist Hospital system suspended 178 employees without pay last week over their refusal to get vaccinated. Of them, 117 sued seeking to overturn the requirement ...
Written by: Laura D. Caty & Dan E. Burke
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on June 10th targeted towards protecting employees in the healthcare sector from COVID-19. Read OSHA's summary here.
The COVID-19 ETS applies to all settings where any employer provides healthcare ...
On June 9, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an additional payment amount for administering in-home COVID-19 vaccinations to Medicare beneficiaries who have difficulty leaving their homes or are otherwise hard-to-reach. There are approximately 1.6 million adults 65 or older who may have trouble ...
Written by: Courtney Samford
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a new Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) for particular employers in the healthcare industry and updated its voluntary guidance for all other workplaces.
The Healthcare ETS applies to most hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living ...
On June 4, 2021, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Shot at a Million, the state’s new vaccine incentive drawing.
The Governor announced two types of drawings that permanent residents of Kentucky can enter to win, at shotatamillion.ky.gov, if they have received at least the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines or the one-dose Johnson ...
On May 25, 2021 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will dedicate $4.8 billion from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to support the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program. Through the funding, the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program will reimburse health care providers for testing uninsured individuals for COVID-19.
The ...
On June 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter to insurers and providers about the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. Secretary Becerra sent the letter in response to recent reports of consumer cost concerns. The letter reminded health care providers of their signed ...
On June 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it had revised reporting requirements for recipients of Provider Relief Fund payments. Hospital groups in May asked HHS to extend the original June 30 deadline and distribute the remaining $24 billion in the relief fund.
Some of the key updates include:
- The ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
On May 28, 2021, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its technical assistance guidance to address questions surrounding vaccines. The guidance confirms that under federal equal employment opportunity laws, employers may:
- require employees who physically enter the ...
If only every employer could give a $1 million incentive for a vaccine like the Ohio Vax-A-Millions program...then I would probably be on vacation instead of writing this blog.
The EEOC issued guidance on Friday May 28th clarifying long standing questions about the COVID-19 vaccine after organizational leaders requested additional legal ...
Due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), on May 24, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the extension of the submission deadline for both new and amendmentsto existing Medicare GME affiliation agreements to January 1, 2022. As CMS further explains on page 8 of COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket ...
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published updated guidance providing that fully vaccinated persons in non-healthcare settings need not wear masks indoors. However, the guidance explicitly said that this relaxation of mask standards did not apply to healthcare settings, which were still controlled by ...
By: Kathie McDonald-McClure
On May 24, 2021, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to the OIG COVID-19 FAQ webpage on the topic of rewarding Federal healthcare program beneficiaries for receiving a COVID-19 vaccination (the “Vaccine”). The question posed was as follows:
Would the offer or ...
By: Glen M. Krebs, contributing author Glen W. Krebs, Wyatt Summer Associate
On May 25, 2021, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made available a supplemental increase of 22,000 visas for H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers. The H-2B visas are for U.S. businesses that will likely suffer irreparable harm without the ability to employ ...