The employer hears a knock at the door.  Surprise!  ICE is on the other side to serve the employer with a Notice of Inspection to audit Forms I-9.  Of course, the employer repeats the ever-popular phrase, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” but what happens next?  Thoughts may be racing through the employer’s mind such as, “Let’s fix our I-9s immediately, but we won’t tell our employees why we are completing new forms.” Or, “We should request as much documentation as our employees can present to make certain we are covered.”  Or, the increasingly popular, “Let’s request new documentation from ‘foreign’ employees so we can tell ICE that we took extra precautions against ‘foreign’ workers.”  According to the recently released list of best practices during an I-9 audit, these actions may put the employer in hot water with the Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”), which is a division of the Department of Justice.  (Read more…)

This Health Care Tax News article is Part V in a series addressing recent changes to IRS Form 990 and its Instructions.  The previous installments addressed changes to the Core Form, changes to Schedule H, changes to Schedule J and changes to Schedule K.

Our final installment of this series addressing the recent changes to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) 2011 Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, and related Schedules identifies miscellaneous changes found throughout the related Schedules and Instructions that we have not otherwise covered in any previous article in this series, as well as the key changes in the 2011 Form 990 Glossary.  While these changes may not be as substantive as the changes previously discussed in this series of articles, organizations completing the 2011 Form 990 should nonetheless be aware of these changes as they complete their returns. (Read more…)

This installment of Hall Render’s Health Law Broadcast series on health care reform is designed to provide you with the insight, analysis and practical suggestions with respect to the various reform initiatives that will affect your organization.

Deadlines! Deadlines! Today is the deadline for aspiring Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) to submit a Notice of Intent for participation in the July 1, 2012 start date of the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Similar to other coordinated care programs being marketed by CMS, submitting a Notice of Intent does not bind organizations to submit an application or to participate in the Shared Savings Program. The very brief Notice of Intent must be submitted electronically by 5:00 P.M. EST. Applications would be due by March 30, 2012. Decisions regarding participation in the Shared Savings Program will be approved or denied on May 31, 2012. No additional Program start dates have been announced by Medicare. (Read more…)

This installment of Hall Render’s Health Law Broadcast series on health care reform is designed to provide you with the insight, analysis and practical suggestions with respect to the various reform initiatives that will affect your organization.

Executive Summary

On February 14, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a highly anticipated Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) discussing the implementation of the overpayment reporting and repayment provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”).  The Proposed Rule attempts to address several of the ambiguities in the statute, including the timeline for returning overpayments.  In addition, the Proposed Rule propounds a 10-year look back period for reporting and returning identified overpayments and discusses the intersection between the overpayment obligations and existing CMS and Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) self-disclosure protocols.  (Read more…)

The Right to Work movement notched a victory in February 2012 when Indiana became the latest state to pass Right to Work legislation.  This article discusses Right to Work implications for employers and employees working in both unionized and non-union environments. (Read more…)

Hall Render real estate attorneys regularly police our health care clients’ real estate contracts, particularly leases, to ensure they comply with applicable health laws. In particular, federal Stark and Anti-Kickback laws. A Michigan nonprofit hospital system’s 2011 payment of $30 million in fines for alleged health law violations demonstrates the potentially high cost of noncompliant leases.

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