Articles and Blogs

Because the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (“DHS”) receives federal financial assistance, it must comply with federal civil rights requirements as a recipient of that financial assistance and must ensure that its recipients of the federal financial assistance also comply with federal civil rights laws. Accordingly, any organization that receives funds from DHS to administer…Read More

As 2022 begins, the federal government, as well as some state and local governments, continue to prioritize the importance of anti-discrimination laws. Indeed, in addition to numerous anti‑discrimination laws that went into effect in 2021, many new laws were passed and signed in 2021 to go into effect in 2022. Yet, as these new laws…Read More

On December 28, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued Guidance for the Interim Final Rule – Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination (the “Guidance”). The Guidance provides direction to surveyors on assessing compliance with CMS’s November 5, 2021 Interim Final Rule (the “IFR”), which established COVID-19 vaccination…Read More

This was another dynamic year for the health care industry and for health care real estate, which is demonstrating remarkable resiliency and innovative success in the face of unprecedented challenges. This article summarizes a number of key 2021 takeaways and trends that were discussed during our 2021 Health Care Real Estate Year in Review webinar,…Read More

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced on its website on December 27, 2021 that it was “withdrawing the non-recordkeeping portion” of its healthcare emergency temporary standard (“Healthcare ETS”). That rule, described in detail here, regulated most healthcare facilities with obligations that included, among other things, employee screening, the designation of a COVID-19 safety coordinator, removing employees from…Read More

On December 23, 2021, the Department of State announced that consular officers are now authorized to waive the in-person interview for individuals applying for certain non-immigrant work visas through December 31, 2022. This applies to Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas); Trainees or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas); Intracompany Transferees (L visas); Individuals with Extraordinary…Read More

In an effort to clear the fog created by its recent skilled nursing facility guidance for visitation, CMS released a list of best practices and key aspects of visitation that skilled nursing providers should follow as they encounter certain scenarios. On December 23, 2021, CMS released several questions and answers in “Nursing Home Visitation Frequently…Read More

On November 17, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”) with the goal of obtaining further information regarding the practice of telepharmacy. The DEA is seeking input as it considers promulgating new telepharmacy regulatory requirements. Interested stakeholders have until January 18, 2022 at 11:59 PM EST to submit…Read More

*Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 21. On Wednesday evening, December 22, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear appeals from decisions that may have a major impact on the enforceability of both the OSHA vaccine-or-test rule and the CMS vaccine mandate. Stay tuned for further developments.   In the ever-evolving…Read More

On November 30, 2021, a federal district court in Louisiana granted a nationwide injunction against the implementation of CMS’s Interim Final Rule requiring vaccines (“IFR”) for employees and providers at most health care facilities. The government promptly appealed that injunction. The Fifth Circuit has not yet ruled on the merits but on December 15 denied…Read More