The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an updated Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (WCMSA) Reference Guide – Version 3.5, on January 10, 2022. In that Reference Guide, CMS reiterated that submitting a WCMSA proposal for review is never required, but is recommended, as the WCMSA review process is “the only process that […]
On 11/12/21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit threw out portions of the 2016 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles – Phase 2 (“Phase 2”) as it relates to trailers, tanks, car carriers, logging trailers, and platforms. The Rule, which was set to take […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an updated Section 111 NGHP User Guide – Version 6.4, on June 11, 2021. CMS will now allow the termination of ORM if the following criteria are met. Where there is no practical likelihood of associated future medical treatment, which is reflected by meeting ALL of the following: […]
On 2/3/2021, Pete Buttigieg was sworn in as the 19th Secretary of Transportation. On 1/20/2021, President Biden issued an executive order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. On 4/22/2021, in response to PresidentBiden’s executive Order, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposedwithdrawing the SAFE I […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate has reduced hours-of-service (HOS) violations by 50% since the initial rule took effect in December 2017. Over 8.8 million roadside inspections were conducted since that time with less than 1.25% resulting in citations for HOS violations or for failure to […]
The SMART Act requires CMS to annually review the costs associated with the collection of Medicare conditional payments and set forth a threshold amount applicable to settlements, judgments, awards, or other payments (TPOC amount) for which it will not seek recovery. The threshold amount for 2020 was $750.00. On November 25, 2020, CMS announced the […]
Effective Dec. 1, 2020, the North Carolina Industrial Commission has revised the filing requirement that triggers the submission of a Form 19, Employer’s Report of Employee’s Injury or Occupational Disease to the Industrial Commission. Specifically, the Commission increased the Form 19 filing threshold for medical compensation paid from $2,000 to $4,000. The revised rule – 11 NCAC […]
On 9/29/20, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) final rule updating Hours of Service (HOS) regulations takes effect for normal, nonexempt operation. The key provisions include: Extend on-duty time by 2-hours for adverse weather; Extend the “short haul” exception from 100 air-mile radius to 150 miles and increase allowable drive time from 12 hours […]
In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the firm is taking action to continue serving clients while keeping the health of clients and our staff top priority. All our offices are currently operating with a remote workforce to help reduce the spread of the virus.
On 5/01/20, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced a change to the Crash Preventability Demonstration Program and Safety Measurement System (SMS) that will permanently exclude no-fault crashes when calculating a carrier’s safety score. Effective immediately, if the FMCSA determines that a crash was not preventable,it will no longer be included in the carrier’s […]
