Showing 13 posts in Health Care.

Federal Court Holds that Hospitals Providing HMO Services to Federal Employees are Federal Contractors at the Same Time the OFCCP Appears to Increase Its Focus on Auditing Health Care Providers

Several years ago, the Federal Office of Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) requested that three Pennsylvania hospitals provide copies of affirmative action plans and other materials required of Federal Contractors. Each hospital had a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) contract with the UPMC Health Plan to provide medical products and services to United States Government employees pursuant to a contract between the Health Plan and the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The hospitals resisted the audits by the OFCCP arguing that their provision of medical care through the HMO plans did not render the hospitals government contractors or subcontractors and that their contracts specifically stated that the hospitals were not to be considered subcontractors. The Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board ruled in favor of the OFCCP. More ›

Hospital’s Challenge to NLRB Health care rule Denied

A hospital challenged the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) certification of the union as the representative of a "wall to wall" bargaining unit of the hospital's professional and non-professional employees. The hospital claimed that the Health Care Rule (which limited the number and type of bargaining units allowed in an acute care setting) violated the National Labor Relations Act, Section 9(c)(5) because it endorsed the extent of a union's organization as the controlling factor in determining bargaining units. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, rejected this argument, as well as the hospital's argument that the NLRB violated the Rule because the union was required to show, and the Board was required to find, extraordinary circumstances to join together a number of the Rule's designated units. The Court of Appeals, however, found that such a showing was not required under the Rule. More ›

Unanimous Board Determines Make-Whole Relief Is Fundamental

A Florida food products wholesaler unilaterally changed the health care plan for its bargaining unit employees twice in two years. Each change led to increased premiums and copayments for the unionized employees. The administrative law judge (ALJ) and reviewing bodies that subsequently reviewed these facts agreed that the unilateral change violated Section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act, but disagreed about the appropriate remedy. The ALJ ordered the wholesaler to: cease and desist from changing the health plan; restore the health coverage in place prior to the unilateral changes, upon the union’s request; and make the employees whole for losses suffered as a result of the unilateral changes. A two-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) modified the remedy to eliminate the make whole relief if the union exercised its option to retain the final unilaterally implemented health insurance plan. The case eventually was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, which remanded it after ruling that at least three members must convene in order to exercise the delegated authority of the NLRB. On second review, the four-member NLRB unanimously restored the make whole-relief award, regardless of whether the union requested rescission of the health care plan change. In doing so, the NLRB found that its earlier remedy was based on mechanical adherence to Brooklyn Hospital Center, 344 NLRB 404 (2005), a decision that itself ignored 40 years of NLRB precedent, without explanation. The unanimous NLRB held that a make-whole remedy is a fundamental element of the Board’s remedial approach. Make-whole relief fully compensates employees for economic losses caused by unfair labor practices. Also, it operates as a financial disincentive against the commission of unlawful unilateral changes. Employers should note that unlawful unilateral changes that result in economic losses to unit employees are recoverable independent of a union’s judgment on whether to seek rescission.