Client Alerts

On December 19, 2019, the United States Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) and Department of Education (“DoE”) issued an updated Joint Guidance on the Application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) And the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) To Student Health Records (“Guidance”). This updated Guidance replaced the original version, issued in November 2008, to address additional privacy concerns pertaining to Student Health Records.

On December 20, 2019, the President signed into law numerous changes to key Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) provisions concerning retirement plans. 

In addition to the AKS changes, also proposed are changes to the Stark Law regulations and to the degree they overlap, they have been coordinated and are largely consistent. The focus has recognized that since the original Stark Law was passed there have been significant changes in health care delivery to encourage coordination of care and a further recognition that aspects of the Stark Law and its regulations may impede the efforts at coordination of care.

On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling granting McDonald’s Corp. a major victory in a multi-year battle regarding the franchisor’s alleged responsibility as a “joint employer” with its franchisees.

In a tweet issued on Thursday, December 12, 2019, President Trump announced an agreement with China on certain outstanding trade issues that will result in cancellation of another proposed tariff increase scheduled for December 15 – this increase would have added $160 billion in new tariffs mostly on consumer goods.

House Democrats and the White House announced an agreement on a revised version of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (“USMCA”). The USMCA was originally signed on November 30, 2018, by the three countries. Since then, House Democrats and the White House have bargained for more than a year to address concerns relating to labor enforcement, environmental standards, and pharmaceutical protections stemming from the original version of the USMCA.

On October 9, 2019, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued two separate Proposed Rules under the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care ("RSCC"), an initiative first announced in April 2018 and led by Deputy Secretary Hargan, in an effort to overhaul the regulatory burdens imposed upon healthcare providers and beneficiaries while maintaining strong safeguards to protect patients and federal healthcare programs from fraud and abuse. Public comments to both Proposed Rules are due no later than December 31, 2019. 

On May 15, 2019, President Trump issued a new Executive Order widely reported as being targeted against Huawei to keep it from doing business in the United States. 

When any court is asked to grant a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against a defendant—whether based on a non-compete, based on trade secret misappropriation, or any other basis—the court weighs and evaluates several factors. 

Expected to be one of the largest recreational/adult-use markets in the US, on December 1st, Michigan began recreational marijuana sales. Adults over the age of 21 who present a valid driver’s license or valid state ID are now able to purchase recreational marijuana in Michigan.

In the recent case of Erlich Protection Systems, Inc. v David E. Flint, the Michigan Court of Appeals addressed the following four points, which serve as helpful reminders for all litigators, particularly those who handle trade secret cases.

Although the November 14, 2019 deadline has now passed, President Trump has yet to take action on implementing Section 232 tariffs on automobiles and auto parts recommended by a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation last year. The President directed the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate agreements with automobile exporting countries and noted that “if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the president will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken.”

The Internal Revenue Service has recently announced cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans (and other items) for 2020. 

Probably not, but the idea of moving swiftly is always a good one.

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) generally requires that plan administrators furnish disclosures mandated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) via measures reasonably calculated to ensure actual receipt. 

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity will write a rule that would – if implemented – expand overtime rights beyond those set forth by the new federal rules that are set to take effect on January 1, 2020.

Another day, another push to outright ban non-competes. 

On September 24, 2019, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its final rule that would increase the salary threshold for the overtime exemption from $23,660 annually ($455 per week) to $35,568 annually ($684 per week). This Final Rule was a slight increase from the amount set forth in the proposed rule issued by the DOL on March 7, 2019 ($35,308 annually / $679 per week). 

Today, the U.S. House is expected to vote on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. Michigan residents and residents from many other states have faced logistical challenges when it comes to conducting fundamental business in the cannabis industry. Call it Federalism, call it the federal government being behind the times – the conflict, in any case, between federal and state law, is real. At least as it deals with conflicts in the financial space, this conflict may soon come to a head.

Effective November 4, 2019, CMS will have a new weapon against waste, fraud, and abuse. The new rule creates new revocation and denial authorities and will allow CMS to identify healthcare providers that pose an “undue risk” based on their relationships with previously sanctioned entities.