The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued two rulemakings aimed at alleviating procedural and administrative burdens on providers in response to the president's Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.
Beginning May 1, 2012 and continuing through June 15, 2012, the State of Ohio is conducting a General Tax Amnesty Program that under the right set of circumstances could provide significant savings for businesses and individuals with Ohio tax concerns. The General Tax Amnesty Program is separate from the Consumer Use Tax Amnesty Program, which began October 1, 2011 and runs through May 1, 2013.
Effective April 13, 2012, the Department of State adjusted the visa processing fees applicable to beneficiaries applying for a new visa stamp at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, except for the E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancés of U.S. citizens).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) established the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study the effectiveness of various treatments. The Institute's work will be supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) fee.
Bank officers and directors, as well as bank legal counsel should take heed of the FDIC's Financial Institution Letter dated March 19, 2012 (FIL-14-2012).
The redevelopment of environmentally contaminated brownfield sites remains a key component to economic development activities throughout Ohio. Remediation, however, can be expensive.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its count of FY2013 cap-subject H-1B petitions and advanced degree cap-exempt petitions receipted. As of April 9, 2012, nearly 17,400 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted.
For the first time in decades, an Ohio agency has issued a statement on the status of the corporate practice of medicine prohibition. On March 15, 2012, the State Medical Board of Ohio (the Medical Board) published a statement unequivocally declaring that Ohio law does not prohibit an Ohio licensed physician from rendering medical services as an employee of a corporation or any other form of business entity.
As we discussed in a prior client alert, the Ohio Certificate of Need (CON) Program was changed to permit some inter-county bed relocations. Historically, Ohio CON law has prohibited relocating long-term care beds across county lines.
On March 22, 2012, House Bill 489 and Senate Bill 314 (collectively, the Bills) were introduced in the General Assembly. The Bills represent the “JobsOhio II legislation,” which is follow up legislation to the provisions of House Bill 1, which was enacted in February 2011.
In a long-awaited move, the U.S. House on Thursday passed, as part of the JOBS Act, proposed legislation that includes raising the threshold for SEC registration for banks and bank holding companies from 500 shareholders to 2,000 shareholders. The threshold for deregistration would be increased from 300 shareholders to 1,200 shareholders.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the expansion of TSA Precheck, a passenger pre-screening initiative. Under this initiative, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) focuses its efforts on passengers the agency knows less about, while providing expedited screening for travelers who volunteer information about themselves before flying.
As you may know, the annual cap for the current fiscal year allocation of H-1B visas was reached on November 22, 2011. Since that time, employers have not been able to file H-1B visa petitions subject to the annual cap.
Every 10 years, following the census, the Ohio Apportionment Board is tasked with redrawing Ohio’s House and Senate districts to reflect changes in population. The Ohio legislative districts must include 99 House Districts and 33 Senate Districts.
An SBC is a standardized explanation of health coverage intended to help individuals make apples-to-apples comparisons of their options for health coverage. The Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (the Departments) published proposed SBC rules and an SBC template on August 22, 2011.
