One of the more obscure provisions of the Affordable Care Act says that a group health plan may not discriminate against “any health care provider who is acting within the scope of that provider’s license or certification under applicable State law.” What on earth does this provision mean? Apparently not even the federal government is
July 2014
UK Parliament Announces Tighter Planning Guidance for Onshore Oil and Gas Applications
In the first blog of this two-part series, we considered the potential impact of the 14th Round on the commercialisation of the shale gas in the UK in light of recent developments in this industry.
This second blog post focusses on the additional planning guidance for licence applications in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural…
UK Parliament Announces the 14th Landward Licensing Round
In the first of a two part series on recent developments in the UK shale gas industry, this blog post considers the potential impact of the announcement on 28 July 2014 by the Business and Energy Minister, Matthew Hancock, inviting applications for Licences in the 14th Landward Licensing Round (the 14th Round) on the…
New Version of USA Freedom Act Introduced
By David Fagan
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy introduced a new version of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2014 (the “USA FREEDOM Act” or “Act”) in the Senate on Tuesday, more than two months House of Representatives passed a version of the bill that omitted several…
Coordinated EU and U.S. Sanctions Target the Russian Financial, Energy, and Defense Sectors
On July 29, the EU and United States took coordinated steps to expand sanctions targeting the Russian financial services, energy, and defense sectors, including restrictions on energy-related exports to Russia. The EU also took steps to limit certain types of trade and investment in Crimea, while both the EU and United States identified additional parties…
House of Representatives Passes Three Cybersecurity Bills
By David Fagan
On July 28, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives (“House”) passed three cybersecurity bills, the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2014 (H.R. 3696) (“NCCIP Act”), the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act (H.R. 2952) (“CIRDA Act”), and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (H.R. 3107) (“Boots-on-the-Ground Act”) with broad bipartisan support.…
New Medicare Tax Makes FICA Errors Harder to Correct
By Amy N. Moore
Withholding and paying FICA tax on nonqualified deferred compensation can be a tricky business. Because special timing rules apply to FICA tax, employers can’t simply withhold and pay FICA tax when they pay deferred compensation to the employee. Instead, FICA tax is due when the deferred compensation vests (or, in some cases, when the amount…
Trade Secrets Legislation Introduced in the House of Representatives
Yesterday, a bipartisan group of key lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee joined Rep. George Holding in introducing H.R. 5233, the Trade Secrets Protection Act of 2014, a bill to create a federal civil remedy for trade secret theft. Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Howard Coble, John Conyers, Jr., Steve Chabot, and Hakeem Jeffries co-sponsored this important…
European Commission Fines Servier and Five Generic Companies For Preventing Entry Of Generic Versions Of Blood Pressure Control Drug
On 9 July 2014, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition imposed fines totalling € 427.7 million on innovative pharmaceutical company Servier and generic companies Niche/Unichem, Matrix (now Mylan), Teva, Krka and Lupin. The Commission’s decision was the result of proceedings opened in 2009 and follows a Statement of Objections sent to the parties…
Strengthening U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment
By Cov Africa
The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means is currently considering the renewal and strengthening of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA is the cornerstone of the U.S.-African commercial relationship, and the African Union (AU) has called for a 15 year extension of the Act, from 2015 to 2030. Since its enactment in…