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(c) 2010-2026 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

9th Circuit Vacates MSP Injunction Against CMS for Medicare Reimbursement

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a Federal District Court Order enjoying CMS from seeking reimbursement for Medicare Conditional Payments under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP).

The Court held that it lacked jurisdiction:

"... we conclude that the
beneficiaries' claim was not adequately presented to the
agency at the administrative level and therefore the district
court lacked subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g) .
***
Federal question jurisdiction does not extend to most
claims arising under the Medicare Act. The Medicare Act
incorporates 42 U.S .C. § 405(h) , which provides:
No findings of fact or decision of the
[Secretary] ... shall be reviewed by
any person, tribunal, or governmental
agency except as herein provided.
No action against the United States,
the [Secretary] ..., or any officer or
employee thereof shall be brought
under section 1331  ... of title 28  torecover on any claim arising under this
subchapter.
42 U.S.C. § 405(h) ; 42 U.S.C. § 1395ii .

****
 "We decline to adopt the extraordinarily broad reading of
Eldridge  that the beneficiaries invite. We conclude that the
named plaintiffs' reimbursement disputes did not provide an
opportunity for the Secretary to consider the claim that her
interpretation of the secondary payer provisions exceeded
her authority. Their requests for redetermination of their
respective amounts of reimbursement did not constitute
presentment of their policy challenge.
***
" We conclude that the beneficiaries' claim was
not presented to the agency. Because presentment is a
jurisdictional requirement under § 405(g) , the district court
lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the beneficiaries'
claim. 
Haro v Sebelius, ___F.3d____, No. 11-16606, 2013 WL 4734032, Decided Sept.4, 2013.

Read prior posting about this case:
May 18, 2011
Haro v. Sebelius, 2010 WL 1452942 (A. Ariz.) CV 09-134 TUC DCB, Decided April 12, 2010.The plaintiffs were permitted discovery beyond the administrative record. The class action is challenging the recovery procedures of ...
May 25, 2011
The MSPRC is still working cases, and the RAR and Demand letters will be mailed out once appropriate revisions have been made." This follows a recent US District Court ruling enjoining CMS's collection procedures. Haro v.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Train Industry Allies in U.S. Senate Move to Delay Deadline for Crash-Prevention Technology

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.fairwarning.org


Prodded by railroads, four lawmakers introduce bill to postpone deadline for installing high-tech safety systems.

The systems, known as Positive Train Control or PTC, aim to override human error and avert deadly collisions like the Chatsworth, Calif., commuter train crash that killed 25 people in 2008. Railroads are mandated to have PTC by the end of 2015 on trains carrying passengers or extremely hazardous materials such as chlorine. But, as FairWarning reported last year, the industry has pushed hard to relax the requirement and win more time to add the costly technology.

 Four senators who have received political contributions from the industry recently introduced a bill to extend the deadline another five to seven years, until at least 2020. The National Transportation Safety Board has called for the safety measures for more than two decades. Over the last decade, the agency has investigated 27 train crashes that killed 63 people that it says PTC could have prevented. The Associated Press

Federal poultry inspection proposal based on bad data, investigators say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture relied on incomplete and outdated data for its plan to extend a poultry inspection program to plants across the country, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. The new procedures, piloted at 29 sites since 1998, let plants dramatically speed up processing lines and replace many government inspectors with poultry company employees, which...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Out of sight, out of mind: Carcinogenic chemical spreads beneath Michigan town

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.environmentalhealthnews.org


When state and federal environmental officials visited the tucked-away town of Mancelona, Mich., 15 years ago, their presence surprised local residents.

“My heart and most of my life has been spent here in Antrim County,” said Gary Knapp, a long-time resident. “And I knew nothing of its environmental problems.”While removing metal contamination from local groundwater, officials had stumbled upon one of the nation’s largest plumes of an industrial solvent called trichloroethylene, or TCE.

Drinking-water wells tap into this aquifer, so the state asked the town’s help in preventing the chemical from flowing out of people’s taps.“People were helpless, frustrated and angry,” said Knapp, who was recruited by the state to start a regional water authority.Fifteen years later, the underground plume of the carcinogenic chemical is now six miles long and continues to grow.Over the past decade, new wells have been built and millions of dollars have been spent to ensure the 1,390 residents of Mancelona – known for its deer-hunting contests and bass festivals – aren’t drinking toxic water.

But the TCE swirling beneath this remote, low-income town continues to vex state officials and residents as it creeps toward new wells that Knapp and others dug to replace tainted ones. The plume is another industrial scar in Michigan – one that is seemingly not going away.“There’s no silver bullet to take care...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

WOMEN'S SAFETY AND HEALTH ISSUES AT WORK

Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from www.cdc.gov

Over half the children born in the United States are born to working mothers.1

Many NIOSH studies were done to learn whether women may have reproductive health hazards that may be related to their work environment.

NIOSH Publications

The Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health
DHHS (NIOSH) Pub. No. 99-104 (1999)
EnEspaƱol

Related Resources

A longitudinal analysis of total workload and women's health after childbirth
This study involved employed women who were recruited while hospitalized for childbirth. Results included that the time spent on paid and unpaid work was associated with significantly poorer mental health and increased postpartum symptoms during the first year after childbirth.

Earlier age at menopause, work, and tobacco smoke exposure
Among women older than 25, earlier age at menopause was found among all smokers and among service and manufacturing industry sector workers. Women (particularly black women) age 25 to 50 had an increased risk of earlier age at menopause with both primary smoking and second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure. Control of SHS exposure in the workplace may decrease the risk of death and illness associated with earlier age at menopause in US women workers.

Workplace Safety and Women (Podcast) (Running time: 7:41)
This women's health podcast focuses on four important issues for women at work: job stress, work schedules, reproductive health,...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

NIOSH Research on Work Schedules and Work-related Sleep Loss

Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from blogs.cdc.gov



Yesterday, in honor of National Sleep Awareness Week, we blogged about sleep and work and the risks to workers, employers, and the public when workers’ hours and shifts do not allow for adequate sleep.   This blog provides a brief overview of some of the work that NIOSH intramural scientists are carrying out to better understand these risks and ways to prevent them.

Nurses/Reproduction Issues/Shift Work

NIOSH studies are examining shift work and physical demands with respect to adverse pregnancy outcome among nurses, specifically the association between work schedule and risk of spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, and menstrual function. 

This research was the first to look at shift work and pregnancy in U. S. nurses.  NIOSH researchers are collaborating with the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which is the largest, ongoing prospective study of nurses. Results have shown that an increased risk of several reproductive outcomes, including spontaneous abortion, early preterm birth, and menstrual cycle irregularities, are related to shift work, particularly working the night shift. In addition, results show independent effects on reproductive outcomes from long working hours

The study hopes to establish a cohort of over 100,000 female nurses of...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Confirmed: Fracking practices to blame for Ohio earthquakes

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.nbcnews.com


Wastewater from the controversial practice of fracking appears to be linked to all the earthquakes in a town in Ohio that had no known past quakes, research now reveals.

The practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand and other materials under high pressures into a well to fracture rock. This opens up fissures that help oil and natural gas flow out more freely. This process generates wastewater that is often pumped underground as well, in order to get rid of it.

A furious debate has erupted over the safety of the practice. Advocates claim fracking is a safe, economical source of clean energy, while critics argue that it can taint drinking water supplies, among other problems.

One of the most profitable areas for fracking lies over the geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which reaches deep underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and southern New York. The Marcellus Shale is rich in natural gas; geologists estimate it may contain up to 489 trillion cubic feet (13.8 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas, more than 440 times the amount New York State uses annually. Many of the rural communities living over the formation face economic challenges and want to attract money from the energy industry.

Youngstown quakesBefore January 2011, Youngstown, Ohio, which is located on the Marcellus Shale, had never experienced an earthquake, at least not since researchers began observations in 1776....
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Domestic Workers Treaty Goes Into Force

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.hrw.org


A groundbreaking global treaty on the rights of domestic workers goes into legal effect on September 5, 2013, offering vital protections to millions of workers around the world, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments should promptly act to ratify and enforce the Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (the Domestic Workers Convention), Human Rights Watch said.

The Domestic Workers Convention, No. 189, adopted by International Labour Organization (ILO) members in 2011, sets standards for the estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide – mostly women and girls – who perform essential household work in private homes. These workers cook, clean, and provide care for children and the elderly, but in many countries are excluded from basic labor law protections. Domestic workers face a wide range of human rights violations, including excessive working hours without rest, non-payment of wages, forced confinement, physical and sexual abuse, forced labor, and trafficking.

“Domestic workers are among the most abused and exploited workers in the world,” said Gauri van Gulik, women’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “With the Domestic Workers Convention now coming into effect, millions of women and girls will have a chance for safer working conditions and better lives.”

Under the treaty, domestic workers are entitled to protections available to other workers, including weekly days off, limits...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Probability of Cancer in Pulmonary Nodules Detected on First Screening CT

Today's post was shared by NEJM and comes from www.nejm.org


Major issues in the implementation of screening for lung cancer by means of low-dose computed tomography (CT) are the definition of a positive result and the management of lung nodules detected on the scans. We conducted a population-based prospective study to determine factors predicting the probability that lung nodules detected on the first screening low-dose CT scans are malignant or will be found to be malignant on follow-up.

Methods

We analyzed data from two cohorts of participants undergoing low-dose CT screening. The development data set included participants in the Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Study (PanCan). The validation data set included participants involved in chemoprevention trials at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. The final outcomes of all nodules of any size that were detected on baseline low-dose CT scans were tracked. Parsimonious and fuller multivariable logistic-regression models were prepared to estimate the probability of lung cancer.

Results

In the PanCan data set, 1871 persons had 7008 nodules, of which 102 were malignant, and in the BCCA data set, 1090 persons had 5021 nodules, of which 42 were malignant. Among persons with nodules, the rates of cancer in the two data sets were 5.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Predictors of cancer in the model included older age, female sex, family history of lung cancer, emphysema, larger nodule size, location of the nodule in the...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Italian Plant’s Abrupt Shutdown Stirs a Debate

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com


Like it or not, Italy’s labor force recognizes that the long manufacturing slump may make factory closings inevitable. But this, they say, is no way to do it.

At the start of August, the 30 workers of Hydronic Lift, an elevator components company, wished one another well and left on long-planned summer vacations. But when they returned to work three weeks later, they found the gates bolted with chains and padlocks. The company has not disclosed its plans.

“Not to be emotional, but if a worker goes on holiday with the fear that he might not come back to a job, well, that can cause serious damage to one’s peace of mind,” Alberto Larghi of the metalworkers’ trade union said. “Events like this can ruin vacations for all workers.”

It was only the latest in a headline-grabbing series of factory closures in Italy that the metalworkers’ union, FIOM-CGIL, which represents the workers at Hydronic Lift, denounced as the “popular sport among businessmen in the summer of 2013: transforming the summer shutdown into a definitive termination, with no forewarning, taking advantage that the employees are absent.”

Summer sport is a bit of an overstatement; there have been only a handful of cases, including a factory near Modena where the boss moved the production line for electronic components to Poland under the cover of the August doldrums. But they have stirred a national debate in a country struggling to...
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Study: Healthcare-linked infections cost US $10 billion a year

Today's post was shared by CIDRAP and comes from www.cidrap.umn.edu


Five of the most common, costly, and preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cost the United States nearly $10 billion per year, according to a meta-analysis of 27 years' worth of data by a team from Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutions.

The team reviewed data spanning 1986 to 2013 concerning surgical site infections (SSIs), central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs), according to their report, released yesterday by JAMA Internal Medicine.

For HAI incidence estimates, the investigators used the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes 1,700 reporting sites. By conducting a systematic literature review, the team found 26 studies that provided "reasonably robust" estimates of attributable costs and/or length of stay for HAIs.

The overall cost of the HAIs was estimated at $9.8 billion annually.  On a per-case basis, CLABSIs were found to be the most expensive HAI at $45,814 each, followed by VAP, $40,144; SSIs, $20,785; CDIs, $11,285; and CAUTIs, $896, the report says.

SSIs, however, accounted for the largest share of costs, at 33.7%. The second largest contributor was VAP, at 31.6%, followed by CLABSIs, 18.9%; CDIs, 15.4%; and CAUTIs, less than 1%.
"While quality improvement initiatives have decreased HAI...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

UNITED STATES REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH SAFEWAY TO REDUCE EMISSIONS OF OZONE-DEPLETING SUBSTANCES NATIONWIDE

Today's post was shared by US EPA News and comes from yosemite.epa.gov


In a settlement agreement with the United States, Safeway, the nation’s second largest grocery store chain, has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and implement a corporate-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide, estimated to cost approximately $4.1 million, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice today. 

The settlement involves the largest number of facilities ever under the Clean Air Act’s regulations governing refrigeration equipment.

The settlement resolves allegations that Safeway violated the federal CAA by failing to promptly repair leaks of HCFC-22, a hydro-chlorofluorocarbon that is a greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance used as a coolant in refrigerators, and failed to keep adequate records of the servicing of its refrigeration equipment. Safeway will now implement a corporate refrigerant compliance management system to comply with stratospheric ozone regulations.

 In addition, Safeway will reduce its corporate-wide average leak rate from 25 percent in 2012 to 18 percent or below in 2015. The company will also reduce the aggregate refrigerant emissions at its highest-emission stores by 10 percent each year for three years. “Safeway’s new corporate...
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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

WORK SCHEDULES: SHIFT WORK AND LONG WORK HOURS

Shift work is a focus of increased concern for workers as reports continue to emerge of increased health risks. Today's post was shared by NIOSH Transportation and comes from www.cdc.gov


A tired man, a man working in a hospital, and a taxi driver.
A tired man, a man working in a hospital, and a taxi driver.
According to 2004 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 15 million Americans work full time on evening shift, night shift, rotating shifts, or other employer arranged irregular schedules.

The International Labor Office in 2003 reports that working hours in the United States exceed Japan and most of western Europe. Both shift work and long work hours have been associated with health and safety risks.

This page provides links to NIOSH publications and other resources that address demanding work schedules.

NIOSHTIC-2 Search

NIOSHTIC-2 is a searchable bibliographic database of occupational safety and health publications, documents, grant reports, and journal articles supported in whole or in part by NIOSH.
NIOSHTIC-2 search results on work schedules

NIOSH Publications and Guidance

NIOSH DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSE Key Safety and Health Topics, Fatigue Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/oilspillresponse/
keytopics.html#fatigue

NIOSH OSHA Interim Guidance for Protecting Deepwater Horizon Response Workers and Volunteers, Fatigue Prevention
NIOSH Blog: Sleep and Work
http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2012/03/sleep-and-work/
NIOSH Blog: NIOSH Research on Work Schedules and Work-related Sleep Loss
http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2012/03/sleep/
Overtime and Extended Work Shifts: Recent Findings on Illnesses, Injuries and Health Behaviors
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2004-143
Presents a review of the methods...
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Sleep, Pain, and Hospital Workers

The health care employment sector is increasing as the US becomes an "aging nation" of seniors. Safety of health care workers is a growing concern. Today's post was shared by NIOSH Transportation and comes from blogs.cdc.gov



We know that decreased sleep duration and extended shifts in healthcare workers are linked to workplace injuries.  The effects of decreased sleep on pain in the workplace are less clear. 

New research from the Harvard Center for Work, Health and Wellbeing  –one of four NIOSH Centers of Excellence funded to explore and research the concepts of Total Worker Health™- examines the question: Does lack of sleep increase pain and limit function among hospital care workers?   


The study, published in the American Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, finds that sleep deficiency (including short sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, sleep insufficiency, or all three) is significantly associated with pain, functional limitations of daily living tasks due to that pain, and difficulty performing work tasks due to that pain, among hospital care workers. These effects may impact productivity or the ability to perform demanding health care work such as patient handling.

This study is in agreement with a growing body of research linking poor sleep with pain. For example, laboratory studies have shown that restricting sleep duration can increase reports of new pain, consistent with the higher pain reports associated with insomnia. Other studies have shown that sleep-deprived persons respond differently to a standard pain...
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To Promote Wellness, Public Health Departments Are Launching Apps. Will They Work?

Employee health concerns will soon be advanced by technology. Knowledgeable use of "apps" will assist workers' in identifying occupational conditions and hazards. Today's post was shared by RWJF PublicHealth and comes from healthland.time.com

Courtesy of Alabama Department of Public Health
Courtesy of Alabama
Department of Public Healt

The Alabama Department of Public Health is venturing into the mobile universe as the first state with a health app for residents.

“Normally Alabama comes in last when it comes to health indicators, but we were one of the first states to be on Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. This is just another goal for us,” says Jennifer Pratt Sumner, the director of the digital media branch of the department.

The app, which is free to download from Google Play or iTunes, brings all of the social media feeds put out by the various public health divisions into one place. It also provides health news alerts and information about wellness events, such as the annual Alabama Youth Rally. Some recent tips included educational conferences open to the public, and tips on safely consuming shellfish in the state.

(MORE: Two-Faced Facebook: We Like It, but It Doesn’t Make Us Happy)
“As more and more Americans use their smartphones to gather health information, I think we’ll see a greater number of health departments rolling out their own apps,” says Alexandra Hughes, an account director at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, who wrote an analysis on social media effects entitlted “Using Social Media Platforms to Amplify Public Health Messaging” [PDF].

“Consumers are already flocking to apps to do things like count calories, prepare healthier...
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