CHARLOTTE, April 18, 2022 — Exciting changes come to fruition as Hedrick Gardner moves into their freshly renovated facility in Charlotte’s Rotunda building at 4201 Congress Street, in Suite 300, on April 15th. The new look features an industrial vibe with open ceilings and exposed brick accent walls, along with a functional floor plan to […]
by Joe D. Delfino In a recent publication, we discussed the issue of what standard the North Carolina Industrial Commission and North Carolina Courts would use to interpret the provision of the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act dealing with the 500-week cap on weekly TTD benefits. By way of review, for workers’ compensation claims arising […]
Allen C. Smith, Austin R. Walsh On 2/7/22, the FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry went live. The Registry maintains a list of registered training providers and a record of all individuals who have completed entry-level driver training. State agencies will have access to the Registry to verify that commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants have completed the […]
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 […]
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: The final rule may be found here: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/2020-05/HOS%20Master%20050120%20clean.pdf. On 9/4/20, the FMCSA announced a new pilot program allowing drivers between 18 and 20-years-old to operate commercial motor vehicles […]
