Certain employers need to immediately replace their Family and Medical Leave Act poster with a recently released revised new one. The FMLA poster is generally required to be posted by employers with 50 or more employees and should be displayed in a conspicuous place where employees and applicants can see it. The revised poster implements changes made by recently released FMLA regulations.
New rules released under HIPAA require physicians to make several major changes over the next six months. These changes are complex and they will have a direct impact on how physicians do business, so physicians need to start planning now.
Business associate (BA) agreements must be reviewed. The new rules require physicians to use reasonable diligence in overseeing business associates. BAs should also take notice, because they may now be directly liable for breaches. The definition of who counts as a BA has expanded. So, any company working with a physician needs to figure out whether the new rules apply to it.
Physicians also need to prepare new NPPs to account for new patient rights. Patients will soon be able to limit disclosure if they pay for services in full. They will also be able to request machine-readable copies of EHR. Last, they will have to give written approval before the physician can use third-party marketing.
The IRS has taken the position that EHR incentive payments are taxable. Because the IRS has a long history of defining what is subject to tax broadly, this is not surprising. However, some of the consequences of this position could be problematic for physicians. Many physicians turn over their payments to a group practice. Physicians doing this could be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Under tax law, taxpayers cannot avoid tax merely by turning income over to somebody else. Thus, suppose a physician earns an EHR incentive payment and turns it over to her practice. Depending on how the plan is structured, she might still have to include the EHR payment on her personal tax return. The IRS allows an important exception. If the physician receives the payment as an agent of the group practice, she does not have to report it on her personal tax return. Because of this issue, physicians who have received or will receive EHR incentive payments should plan to deal with the tax consequences of those payments.
As part of the Family and Medical Leave Act’s 20th anniversary, the U.S. Department of Labor recently released the results of a survey on its use and impact. The results show the generally positive impact the FMLA has had on workers. The survey also highlights several aspects where the FMLA is being misapplied by employers. Among them include:
No Fault Attendance Policies. Many employers reported still using no-fault attendance policies – policies that treat all employee absences the same regardless of the reason – without providing exceptions for FMLA leave. FMLA-related absences should be excused and may not be used against employees in performance evaluations.
Asking Employees on Leave to Perform Work. The survey revealed that when an employee is on leave, the most common method for covering the work is to assign it to other employees. However, while employees are on longer leaves, 70.5% of employees were asked to perform some work while on leave. This practice is likely in violation of FMLA’s prohibition from interfering with employees while on leave.
Pressuring Employees to Return. Under the FMLA, employers are not allowed to pressure employees to return to work. However, the survey shows that 12.4% of eligible employees reported such pressure as a reason why they returned.
The dizzying pace of recent hacking attempts has prompted national attention. President Obama plans to enact rules allowing the military to respond to national cybersecurity threats. These rules come in the wake of a string of attacks on governments and private firms. Private firms are at high risk, especially when they rely on cloud computing and mobile devices. Their limited ability to address breaches makes this risk worse. Companies should set up procedures to prevent and deal with breaches. They should also consider cybersecurity insurance.
In prior years, many companies ignored the threat of a breach because of low risk in their field. However, hackers are now targeting new types of businesses. Thus, businesses of all types need to address these issues. Even companies with strong cybersecurity policies in place may be overlooking new trends. For example, experts have noted an increase in the number of attacks on consultants, accountants, and law firms. Companies should protect themselves against the risk of indirect attack by requiring that these firms follow certain cybersecurity policies.
States have been slow to buy into the state-run Exchange model. Exchanges—online health insurance portals—are a key part of the Affordable Care Act. They will allow consumers to learn more about insurance options, compare plans, and purchase coverage. HHS originally thought that many states would choose to manage their own Exchanges. However, many states have not opted in for a variety of reasons. In response, HHS has waived deadlines for states to announce their intention to adopt their own Exchanges.
The Affordable Care Act requires all states to have an Exchange by October 2013. If states choose not to manage their own, the federal government will manage the Exchange. To date, 17 states will administer their own Exchange. Prior estimates indicated that many more states would opt in. Because of this, the federal government may have to pay more to administer Exchanges than estimated.
