Many North Carolina hospital systems have separate business corporations or limited liability companies to house the physician component of their integrated health care delivery systems. Hospitals may take this step for any number of reasons, including protecting the hospital from potential liability, avoiding the need to pay unrelated business income tax, or complying with the “group practice” definition in the Stark physician self-referral law.
Recent Tax Reform Curbs Fringe Benefits for Hospital-Related Employers
This alert was originally published on April 4, 2018 and has been updated for this issue of Corridors.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Act modifies the tax consequences of certain fringe benefits, including those related to transportation, moving, meals, entertainment, and employee awards. The Act also has some surprising implications for non-profit hospitals that provide certain fringe benefits to employees. To avoid potential penalties and surprising tax consequences, hospitals should take action now to assess their benefit arrangements and their accounting systems.
ASITP: A Bipartisan Proposal to Beef Up North Carolina’s Identity Theft Protection Act
Data privacy regulation tends to take one of two general approaches. In most of the world—but not in the United States—the approach is usually characterized as “omnibus.” Under an omnibus regime, privacy rights are defined at a high level of generality and all activities that affect those rights are subject to regulation. In the United States, the approach is “sectoral” rather than omnibus. As the name implies, under a sectoral regime, privacy rights and regulations depend upon the industry sector in which you are operating and the activities you are undertaking.
Immigration Update: I-9 Audits and even ICE Site Visits Return with a Vengeance
This alert was originally published on January 12, 2018 and has been updated for this issue of Corridors.
What is the best way for hospitals employing nurses, nursing assistants or other immigrants to prepare for an increase in resources and focus by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on illegal hiring? Conduct your own internal audit and make corrections as needed before ICE appears.