Alert
Published 05/27/2021
By Bruce Armon, Samantha Gross, Patricia Varona Garcia
Industries Health Care
On May 25, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that Peachstate Health Management, LLC d/b/a AEON Clinical Laboratories (Peachstate) agreed to pay $25,000, enter into a Resolution Agreement, and adopt a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. Peachstate provides diagnostic and laboratory-developed tests, including clinical and genetic testing services. Peachstate is based in Georgia and is certified under the Clinical...
Alert
Published 05/26/2021
By Andrea A. Lipuma
Services Environmental
This week the Supreme Court decided Territory of Guam v. United States , No. 20-382 (U.S. May 24, 2021) , and held that contribution claims under section 113(f)(3)(B) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)(3)(B) are only permitted in cases where there has been “resolution of a CERCLA-specific liability.” The United States Navy constructed the Ordot Dump in Guam during the 1940s and allegedly disposed of toxic waste there for decades before ceding control of the landfill to Guam. EPA sued Guam under the Clean Water Act for...
Alert
Published 05/25/2021
By Alexander (Sandy) R. Bilus, Rebecca J. Reist, Judith B. Kassel
Services Cybersecurity and Privacy
In the wake of several recent major cyberattacks, President Biden issued a sweeping Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity (“Order”) on May 12, 2012. The Order reflects the Administration’s policy of “prevention, detection, assessment and remediation of cyber incidents as a top priority and essential to the national and economic security.” President Biden issued the Order following a series of recent cyberattacks on Federal Government and private company networks, including the Colonial Pipeline and the SolarWinds incidents. The Order aims to improve the nation’s...
Alert
Published 05/21/2021
By Pamela Goodwin
Services Environmental
President Biden yesterday issued an Executive Order directing the national climate adviser and director of the National Economic Council to develop a comprehensive, government-wide climate strategy by the end of September. The Order calls for a plan to identify and disclose financial risk to government programs, assets and liabilities, posed by climate risks, and determine the public and private financing needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Key Elements of the Order Financial regulators, including the Secretary of the Treasury, to consider assessing climate-related financial risk...
Alert
Published 05/21/2021
By M. Paige Berry, Laurie Kamaiko
Industries Insurance
On May 12, 2021, the Governor of New Jersey signed into law a bill that will require authorized insurers that provide property and business interruption insurance for commercial property in New Jersey to provide a summary to policyholders and applicants that includes a statement that the policy may not cover pandemics or viruses, once the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (the “Department”) has developed a summary for such authorized insurers to use. As the COVID-19 pandemic descended upon the country, so did the numerous executive actions limiting and shuttering businesses...
Blog Post
Published 05/20/2021
By Garrett P. Buttrey, Henry A. Platt
Article
Published 05/19/2021
Industries Cannabis Law | Insurance
Article
Published 05/18/2021
Article
Published 05/18/2021
Industries Higher Education
Services Labor and Employment
Blog Post
Published 05/18/2021
By Erik P. Pramschufer
Alert
Published 05/17/2021
By Bruce D. Armon, Samantha R. Gross
Industries Health Care
In a recent advisory opinion, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) concluded that an investment by a health system, a management company, and surgeons in an ambulatory surgery center (“ASC”) did not create a substantial risk of fraud and abuse under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) despite not meeting each of the criteria for protection in the AKS safe harbor for ASCs. In Advisory Opinion No. 21-02 , the OIG stated it would not impose sanctions on the proposed arrangement, which contemplated an ASC jointly owned by a...
Article
Published 05/17/2021
Services Employment Litigation | Labor and Employment
Alert
Published 05/14/2021
This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to disputes between beneficiaries to life insurance policy proceeds, an insurer’s use of independent medical reviewers and in-house nurses to evaluate claims, the preexisting condition limitation, and shifting attorney’s fees to counsel for the parties (as opposed to the parties themselves). The Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr Employee Benefits/ERISA Litigation Team May 14, 2021 | By Amy Kline, Caitlin Strauss and Michael Joyce Tenth Circuit Refuses to Drag Insurer Into Dispute Between Life Insurance Beneficiaries. In a dispute over life insurance...
Alert
Published 05/14/2021
By Pamela Goodwin, Kathleen Gilligan and John Dixon
Industries Real Estate
Services Environmental
While not all states allow local governments to regulate air pollution, Illinois does. The City of Chicago, following the lead of several east coast municipalities and the City of Los Angeles, has recently established a bold plan that will likely cause industrial project developers to incur additional costs and extended timelines for their projects involving construction and expansion of existing facilities whose uses will now be regulated for their impact on air quality. City of Chicago Air Quality Zoning Ordinance On March 24, 2021, the Chicago City Council passed an air quality zoning...
Alert
Published 05/14/2021
By William W. Warren
Services Regulatory Compliance and Government
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s April 29, 2021, decision in a Right-to-Know Law (the “RTKL”) case has broad ramifications in matters where a state or local governmental agency has contracted with a private consultant and seeks to protect records the parties have exchanged while the agency deliberates. Chester Water Authority v. Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development , Nos. 44 & 45 EAP 2019, ___ Pa. ___, ___ A.3d ___, 2021 WL 1740596. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Saylor, [1] joined by Justices Todd, Donohue and Mundy. Justice Dougherty concurred, and...
Blog Post
Published 05/13/2021
Services : Labor and Employment