Resources

A Kansas Supreme Court ruling in Hilburn v. Enerpipe Ltd. paves the way for higher personal injury damages awards in Kansas and potentially higher insurance premiums.

Consistent with some recent federal court rulings, all employers with 100 or more employees, and all government contractors with 50 or more employees and at least $50,000 in government contracts, as of now, must submit summarized pay data for all employees for 2017 and 2018 to the EEOC by September 30, 2019.

Recently, the Kansas Legislature passed Senate Bill 78, which creates new protections for persons, who, in the preceding 12 months have been, are, or are in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or stalking (“protected person (s)”). 

In 2018, the Missouri House of Representatives enacted Mo. Rev. Stat. § 595.120 to combat human trafficking by requiring certain businesses to post (before March 1, 2019) an anti-sex trafficking poster containing resources to assist human trafficking victims.

The Sedona Conference is currently seeking public comment from interested parties on Commentary on Legal Holds, Second Edition: The Trigger & The Process. The Commentary is a project of Sedona’s Working Group on Electronic Document Retention & Production (Working Group 1).

On December 14, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a request for information (“RFI”) seeking input from the healthcare industry on how to improve the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) regulations to meet HHS’ goal of promoting coordinated, value-based care. 

On July 1, 2018, the Kansas Lay Caregiver Act (or CARE Act) goes into effect. The Act recognizes the importance of caregivers to a patient’s recovery after discharge from a hospital, and 35 states have already passed versions of the CARE Act through a national push from the AARP. Although many hospitals already allow for the designation of caregivers pursuant to existing standards and regulations, including Medicare Conditions of Participation, among others, Kansas hospitals need to be aware of the requirements the Act imposes and should take this opportunity to review existing policies for compliance with applicable laws.

On December 28, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (“CMS”) clarified its position on texting patient information from healthcare provider to provider. In its Memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors (S&C 18-10-ALL), CMS warned all texting of patient orders is prohibited, regardless of whether a secure platform is used to relay the orders, and texting of other patient information is permitted if relayed via a secure platform.

CMS proposed two new blows to hospital reimbursement this past week with the release of its 2018 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) proposed rule and the 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“MPFS”) proposed rule. CMS intends to significantly cut the reimbursement rates for 340B drugs and for non-excepted, provider-based department (“PBD”) services.