Posts from May 2013

Obama Administration’s Final Rules On Wellness Programs

Yesterday, the Obama administration released final rules on employment-based wellness programs as a further implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The final rules purport to support workplace health promotion and prevention as a means to reduce long term costs associated with chronic illness The final rules will be effective for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. The rule was issued May 29. To view the final rule, click here.

Author:  James H. McMackin III is a Partner in the Employment Law Practice at Morris James LLP.

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Managing Healthcare Litigation: Three Tips for Making Sure Your Money is Well Spent on Experts: Masimo Corporation v. Philips Electronics North America Corporation, et al., C.A. No. 09-80-LPS-MPT, May 20, 2013

Most healthcare related litigation involves some kind of expert testimony.  It may be used to establish anything from the value of a dissolving physician practice to the standard of care for treating a patient.  This particular case involved alleged infringement of a patent for pulse oximetry products, which  measure hemoglobin levels non-invasively. Judge Thynge issued a report and recommendation excluding key portions of a defendant’s expert testimony.  The excluded testimony sought to establish that an alleged patent infringement caused damages due to lost profits. However, the Court excluded the expert’s testimony due to his expert’s unfamiliarity with the Food and Drug Administration’s requirements regarding approval of this type of medical equipment.  Also, the expert had not interviewed the plaintiff’s customers with regard to More › Share

Medicare Cutbacks + Delaware's Aging Population: They Are Coming but We're Not Building It (Except Sometimes Below the Canal)

Last year colleague James Landon and I offered up a note of caution in the Urban Lawyer regarding Delaware's "perfect storm" of NIMBY-ism, suburban sprawl, inflexible zoning codes, and Medicare reimbursement rates resulting in zoning policy that excludes the elderly, very sick, and their families from residential communities, nursing care, and social support. We discussed the role of the Fair Housing Act and offered a curative prescription of six features zoning codes should have to ensure meeting Delaware's seniors' needs. We regret to report that while our zoning agenda is going nowhere in any Delaware county or municipality, Delaware’s potential Medicare cost increase due to its aging population will be 457 percent by 2030, according to the May 19, 2013 News Journal.  The state did initiate plans to staunch the spending increase: "a system was set up to move people from institutional care back to the community." More › Share