Articles & Alerts
Employment Law Alert: Medical Marijuana Update / New Health Care Reform Law Provides Break Time for Nursing Mothers
Medical Marijuana Update/New health care reform law provides break time for nursing mothers Employers Need Not Accommodate Medical Marijuana Users Oregon State Supreme Court rules federal Controlled Substances Act preempts state law On April 15, 2010, the Oregon Supreme Court...
Health Law Alert
Health Law Alert Following the March 23 signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the related amendments under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, on March 30, the enormous effort of implementing comprehensive health reform has...
Employment Law Alert: New Workplace Credit Check Ban Enacted By Oregon Legislature
NEW WORKPLACE CREDIT CHECK BAN ENACTED BY OREGON LEGISLATURE Senate Bill 1045, adopted by the Oregon Legislature during the February 2010 special legislative session, will prohibit, with limited exceptions, the use of credit histories by employers in making employment-related decisions....
DOJ Increases Budget to Investigate and Prosecute Healthcare Fraud Cases
DOJ Increases Budget to Investigate and Prosecute Healthcare Fraud Cases The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that the Obama administration has requested $29.2 billion for the Justice Department’s national security and traditional law enforcement missions. The Department has stated...
New Health Security Breach Notification Rules
NEW HEALTH SECURITY BREACH NOTIFICATION RULES Interim final rules implementing security breach notification requirements for personal health data released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) create new compliance obligations. The new HHS rule became effective on September...
Oregon Military Family Leave Act of 2009
Employment Alert Oregon Military Family Leave Act of 2009 Background On June 25, 2009, Governor Kulongoski signed into law the Oregon Military Family Leave Act. This Act was first introduced as House Bill 2744 during Oregon’s 2009 Legislative Session. The...
Guidance for Securing PHI Issued by HHS
Health Law Alert Guidance for Securing PHI Issued by HHS The Department of Health and Human Services has just issued guidance on the technologies and methodologies for keeping protected health information (PHI) secure for purposes of health breach notifications. The...
The Medicare RAC Program is Set to Begin Finding Your Billing Errors
Health Law Alert The Medicare RAC Program is Set to Begin Finding Your Billing Errors The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) have taken a major step toward the implementation of its new audit program that will affect countless...
Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act of 2009
Employment Alert Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act of 2009 On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (“Ledbetter Act”) into law. This was the first piece of legislation signed by President Obama and will...
Conflict of Interest Must be Weighed in Denial of Benefits Claims
INSURANCE LAW ALERT Conflict of Interest Must be Weighed in Denial of Benefits Claims The US Supreme Court recently held that when the administrator of an ERISA employee benefit plan both determines whether an employee is eligible for benefits and...