Health Law Advisor

By Robert S. Groban, Jr. and Matthew S. Groban

On March 24, 2014, the USCIS Ombudsman reported that the agency has been improperly denying employment authorization to the dependents of J-1 doctors who are participating in the Conrad 30 program. Normally, foreign physicians who pursue medical training in the United States in J-1 status must leave the country and return home for at least two years when they finish their residency programs. The Conrad 30 program waives this two-year foreign residence requirement and allows those J-1 physicians selected for the program to change their ...

By: Michael F. McGahan

My colleagues have a new post that will help many of our readers at this time of year: “Summer’s Coming! How to Handle Unpaid Internships,” by Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Nancy L. Gunzenhauser.

Following is an excerpt:

A hot topic for every summer – but particularly this summer – is the status of unpaid interns. You are probably aware that several wage and hour lawsuits have been brought regarding the employment status of unpaid interns, particularly in the entertainment and publishing industries. The theory behind these cases is that ...

By Lori A. Medley

A recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that collection or "dunning" letters sent after a debt has become time-barred by the applicable statute of limitations violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. ("FDCPA"), unless the dunning letters advise the debtor that the debt is no longer legally enforceable pursuant to the applicable statute of limitations.

In the consolidated appeals of McMahon v. LVNV Funding, LLC and Delgado v. Capital Management Services, Nos. 12-3504 & 13-2030, the Seventh ...

One of the largest hurdles to the growth of telehealth—the lack of a streamlined process for obtaining physician licensure in multiple states—is one step closer to being scaled. The Federation of State Medical Boards (“FSMB”) recently released a revised draft of its Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (“Compact”). This revised draft is a continuation of efforts by FSMB and its member boards to study the feasibility of an interstate license portability. Additionally, the revised draft of the Compact reflects changes based upon comments received from FSMB member ...

By:  Kara M. Maciel, Adam C. Solander and Lindsay A. Smith

As the Employer Mandate compliance deadline looms for employers under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and employers are closely monitoring employee hours, it is critical that employers take appropriate and lawful steps to record all hours worked by an employee.  If employers try to play games and manipulate how time records are maintained, they could find themselves in hot water under both the ACA and the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

In what appears to be one of the first lawsuits challenging how hours are recorded ...

By Andrea R. Calem

Noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act just became costlier.  Pursuant to an inflation-adjustment formula, on March 28, 2014 the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a final rule raising the civil monetary penalties assessed or enforced by the Civil Rights Division, including those assessed under Title III of the ADA (“Title III”).

Title III prohibits public accommodations from discriminating against disabled individuals with respect to access to goods, services, programs and facilities, and (with limited exceptions) requires ...

For 2 days, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) heard from speakers on its proposed rules to accelerate the processing of union representation petitions and quicken the timing of elections.  The speakers ranged from several labor unions, including the UFCW, SEIU, CWA and AFL-CIO as well as a number of trade associations, including National Federation of Independent Businesses, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and EBG client, National Grocers Association (NGA).  The positions of the parties were ...

Our colleague Kara Maciel will speak on behalf of EBG client, National Grocers Association (“NGA”), at the National Labor Relations Board’s public meeting, scheduled for April 10-11, 2014 regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) on the “ambush election” representation procedures.

The panels will address the following topics:

• Panel B.2: Requirement for written statement of position
  Address issues related to the proposed requirement for a written statement of position.
• Panel E.1 & E.3: Election date
  Please describe the standard to be applied ...

Our colleague Eric Conn, Chair of Epstein Becker Green's OSHA Practice Group, will present a complimentary webinar on April 8, at 1:00 p.m. EDT: OSHA's Temporary Worker Initiative. Topics include enforcement issues and data related to this work relationship, and recommendations and strategies for managing safety and health issues related to a temporary workforce.

Companies are expected to employ many more temporary workers as the Affordable Care Act is implemented, particularly when the "Employer Mandate" kicks in, which will require employers with 50 or more workers to ...

By Brandon Ge and Alaap Shah

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) is taking laudable steps to improve notices of privacy practices (“NPPs”) and make them more clear, understandable, and user-friendly. Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, individuals are entitled to a receive an NPP informing them of how their health information may be used and shared, as well as how to exercise their health privacy rights. Health plans and health care providers must develop and distribute NPPs that clearly explain these rights and practices. Unfortunately, to date NPPs have been ...