On September 10, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule with comment period establishing new requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid providers to disclose “affiliations” with other providers and suppliers.

On July 30, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a new law legalizing and regulating “hemp,” defined as cannabis and derivatives thereof with no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration on a dry weight basis.

Taxpayers seeking to contest the values established by the local assessor have a short time-to contest their new valuation. This time frame varies by state and by local jurisdiction and in many cases begins to run upon mailing of a new value notice.

Since the last edition of The Evaluator, there have been several notable decisions from courts and tax boards; and legislative developments in jurisdictions across the country.

Ohio’s health care industry will soon take on significant new obligations with respect to the management of hazardous pharmaceutical waste, pursuant to a federal rule being implemented by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notification of enforcement discretion in the Federal Register revising the maximum annual penalty amounts for breaches under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

On April 9, 2019, federal jurors in the Northern District of Texas returned a guilty verdict against seven doctors, surgeons, and health care executives accused of participating in a $200 million bribery and kickback scheme at Forest Park Medical Center (FPMC), a physician-owned hospital in Dallas.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently revisited the question of patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Taxpayers seeking to contest the values established by the local assessor have a short time-to contest their new valuation.

Since the last edition of The Evaluator, there have been several notable legislative developments and decisions from courts and tax boards in jurisdictions across the country.

On April 3, 2019, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a notice in the Federal Register (available in full here) announcing a public hearing and related comment period regarding stakeholders’ experience with products containing the cannabis derivative cannabidiol, popularly known as “CBD.”

On March 26, 2019, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing to evaluate a rule proposed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ) to implement certain provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act (related to health information technology.

Due to the evolving sophistication of criminals, security breaches continue to occur on a regular basis. When such breaches occur, the victims of breaches often look to the law to make them whole.

Property taxes are frequently the largest non-productive expense incurred by property owners, and proactive management of this expense may result in increased profitability.

Every six years the State of Ohio requires counties to reappraise real estate.

On February 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule that would amend the “Discounts” safe harbor under the Anti-Kickback Statute and create two new safe harbors respectively protecting “Point-of-Sale Reductions in Price for Prescription Pharmaceutical Products” and “PBM Service Fees.”

Every six years the State of Ohio requires counties to reappraise real estate.

Taxpayers seeking to contest real property tax values established by assessing jurisdictions across the country often have a short window of opportunity to contest their new valuation.

Elisabeth Healey, an associate in Vorys Pittsburgh office and a member of the technology and intellectual property group, co-authored an article for the Intellectual Property Organization titled "Economics of Diversity." 

Every five years, Congress passes legislation that sets national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy.  Significantly, the Farm Bill contains various provisions that will impact the agriculture industry.