After nearly two years of frustrating uncertainty regarding whether employers are required to pay employees for time spent undergoing COVID testing or health screenings, the United States’ Department of Labor (DOL) has finally provided some guidance.
The IRS issued new proposed regulations (https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-25202.pdf) which will impact furnishing Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to covered individuals.
The Supreme Court finally brought clarity to the status of the separate COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which provided a vaccine-or-test requirement for employers with over 100 employees, and the rule issued by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), which mandated vaccination for employees of providers who receive Medicaid or Medicare funding.
On January 10, 2022, the Departments of Labor, the Treasury and Health and Human Services (the Tri-Agencies) released new guidance that requires group health plans to cover certain authorized over-the-counter COVID-19 tests (OTC Tests) purchased on and after January 15, 2022 without cost sharing, prior authorization, or other medical management requirements.
Keeping up with the status of the various federal vaccine mandates over the past few months has felt like riding a bumpy and exhausting rollercoaster. In the hope that what follows lessens your confusion as you prepare for the holidays, the Vorys COVID Task Force has prepared a roundup of the latest on each of the federal mandates, with guidance on what to monitor as we head into 2022. We recognize that this information is likely to change in the coming days, but for now here are where things stand.
On December 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) proposed amendments to the affirmative defense under Rule 10b5-1 and the Commission’s rules governing disclosure of share buybacks under Item 703 of Regulation S-K. The Commission also proposed new rules requiring disclosure of insider trading policies and practices and the creation of Form SR requiring accelerated disclosure relating to share buybacks. The proposed rules will be subject to a 45-day comment period following publication in the Federal Register.
The Ohio Senate recently passed, by a 24-7 vote, Amended House Bill 126 (“HB 126”) that will significantly change the administration of Ohio’s real property tax system if it is also passed by the House and signed by the Governor. It is unusual for us to report on pending legislation, but given the significance of the changes and the fact that it is already impacting pending matters this unusual step is warranted.
The legal battle over the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 (the ETS) took another dramatic twist on Friday night. Mere days after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to hear the matter en banc, a three judge panel dissolved the stay previously entered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As previously reported, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals – the court selected to hear the consolidated challenges to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 (the ETS) – needed to decide an important procedural matter before addressing the merits of the challenge to the ETS. On December 15, 2021, the Sixth Circuit decided that procedural matter, ruling that the case would be heard by a three-judge panel chosen at random rather than en banc by the entire Sixth Circuit.
In Teva Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. Corcept Therapeutics, Inc., Docket No. 21-1360 (Fed. Cir. 2021), the Federal Circuit articulated a strict standard for when an invention may be considered invalid for being “obvious to try,” thus strengthening certain patents.
On December 15, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order denying in part and granting in part a stay on the nationwide Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) vaccine mandate (“CMS Mandate”).
Vorys is a law firm, not an accounting firm. Nevertheless, because the topic addressed herein is important and timely for our economic development incentives clients, we decided to publish this client alert.
