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Although most recent attention has been on the September 9, 2021 Executive Order by President Biden mandating COVID19 vaccines by employers, a lesser-known Executive Order from two months earlier is also important for those working in health and wellness fields. The July 9, 2021 Executive Order deals with market competition. Two areas of specific interest to health and wellness professionals relate to noncompete agreements and occupational licensing restrictions. Noncompete Agreements The Executive Order requires the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look at making rules that would make it more difficult for employers to prevent employees with competing…
Are you looking to open an intravenous (IV) hydration therapy or vitamin/nutrient therapy business? Or, perhaps you already own one and are wondering what legal issues surround such a business. You are not alone. IV therapy businesses are on the rise. According to one market research firm, the IV hydration industry is a $2 billion industry and there are about 626 businesses in the United States alone. Sometimes these businesses are known as “drip bars.” Consumers who visit these facilities can get infusions of saline, vitamins, and other prescription drugs. People suffering from low energy or hangovers may…
When health and wellness coaches start their own business, one of the first things they should tackle is getting their legal documents created and embedded into their intake system. These legal documents may include: A consent form or services agreement An authorization form Group coaching agreements Internal policies and procedures Malpractice insurance policies Legal entity formation and operation documents Employment and/or independent contractor agreements Website terms of use and privacy policies Others as needed to meet unique business needs Many times, usually to save money, coaches may be tempted to use templates that are available for free or a small…
As the Delta and other Greek-lettered variants plague our world, many employers are mandating, or considering mandatory COVID19 vaccinations for their employees. Indeed, some groups are advocating for COVID19 vaccine mandates, such as the Center for American Progress, which recently wrote that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should make COVID19 vaccines for health organization employees a condition of participation or condition for coverage under the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.  And fifty medical groups have called for mandatory vaccinations in hospitals. Further, as noted in previous blog posts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has…
For those of you who have not seen the cinematic classic that is Legally Blonde, the above title is a nod to the main character’s most notorious line. After Elle Woods successfully gains admission to an Ivy League law school, one of her classmates cannot fathom how she was admitted, and her response is the above phrase of incredulity. Amy K. Greske, William Mitchell 2014, is an attorney at O’Neill Elder Law, LLC, in Hudson. She practices elder law and estate planning in Wisconsin and Minnesota. After Wisconsin passed the Uniform Adult Guardianship Jurisdiction Act in 2018, many attorneys may…
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If you’re preparing to send a child off to college this fall, you should add two documents to your back-to-school checklist: (1) a power of attorney for health care, and (2) a durable power of attorney for finances.  Without these two documents, you may not have the authority to make health care decisions or manage finances for your child once they reach age 18. A power of attorney for health care allows your child to name agents to make decisions on their behalf if they were unable to make those decisions.  This document is important if your child were to…
The health coaching market is growing. According to Precedence Research, the global health coach market is projected to grow by 6.7% annually to be worth around $27.8 billion by 2030. Because of the worldwide pandemic in 2020, telehealth and remote visits have exploded, making health coaching even more attractive and viable as a business across the world. As a result, we at the Center for Health and Wellness Law, LLC receive a lot of questions from aspiring health and wellness coaches about whether and how they can practice beyond their home borders. For many coaches based in the…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) just recently confirmed what had been surmised all along:  that employers can incentivize employees to get the COVID19 vaccine. However, as expected, there are some caveats and conditions that accompany this decision. If You Merely Ask Employees for Proof of Vaccination by a Third-Party, Incentives to Vaccinate are OK. According to the new EEOC guidance, an employer may incentivize employees to encourage the employee and their family members to get the COVID19 vaccine. The EEOC reasons that such incentives would not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Genetic Information…
The Center for Health and Wellness Law often works with wellness companies and providers who want to conduct biometric screening tests as part of health fairs or health promotion events. Sometimes these events are held at the worksite as a benefit to employees, other times they may be open to the public. In either case, wellness companies and providers, such as nurses, doctors, dietitians, or health coaches, must be aware of legal restrictions and requirements involved when collecting “blood specimens,” either through finger stick or venipuncture. There are two sources of law wellness companies and providers should address when planning…
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The U.S. Supreme Court declined to strike down the Affordable Care Act once again today, the third unsuccessful constitutional challenge to the far-reaching health care law since it was enacted in 2010. This time, the seven-justice majority dispatched the claims on purely technical grounds and did not even reach the substantive issues. It was the first time the Supreme Court ruled on the ACA’s legality since Congress eliminated the penalty for failing to secure health insurance, an amendment that gutted the so-called “individual mandate.” Looking to capitalize on the unsettled statutory scheme, the plaintiffs, a group that included 18 states,…
Thinking about becoming a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA)? Here is my experience. Greg J. Banchy, Marquette 1987, is an attorney with Banchy Law Center LLC in Eau Claire, practicing in elder law and estate planning. Last September, I sat for the certification exam to become a CELA – a designation given by the National Elder Law Foundation (NELF). I was warned that the exam would be difficult – and it was. The biggest challenge was actually the breadth and scope of the exam. I expected questions directly related to Medicaid law, but the exam went much further, and included topics…
Austin Malinowski and Grant Killoran authored an article in the June, 2021 edition of the Wisconsin Lawyer magazine, entitled “The Legal Treatment of Vaccine Injury Claim.” Their article analyzes how claims for vaccine injury, including claims related to the newly-developed COVID-19 vaccines, are handled under existing law, including the statutory processes applicable to such claims. Read the full article here.…
On June 11, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent an email alerting the public about emergency temporary standards (ETS) for those working in “healthcare” to protect them from COVID-19 exposure now that vaccinations are available. These standards stem from one of President Biden’s first Executive Orders issued on January 21, 2021. As with most health-related guidance, it is not obvious whether these standards apply to wellness providers, or “Complementary and Alternative Medicine (“CAM”) Providers.” Wellness providers might include health coaches, naturopathic doctors, ayurvedic medical providers, functional medicine providers, lifestyle medicine providers, acupuncturists, chiropractors, nutritional counselors, fitness professionals,…
A lot of health and wellness coaches would like to order labs and interpret those lab results so that they can provide more tailored, specific advice to their clients about their nutrition and dietary needs. Unfortunately, unless the coach is a licensed health care professional in the state in which their client resides, such as a physician or dietitian, ordering labs and interpreting those labs to provide specific advice is likely outside of the coach’s scope of practice. The least risky way to practice health and wellness coaching is to offer services that support, encourage and educate clients. Diving into…
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued its first Special Fraud Alert in over six years Nov. 16, 2020. The Alert highlights growing concerns with pharmaceutical and medical device companies’ speaker programs. The OIG considers speaker programs as “company-sponsored events at which a physician or other health care professional (collectively, HCP) makes a speech or presentation to other HCPs about a drug or device product or a disease state on behalf of the company.” These HCPs are not employees of the drug or device company but are, as speakers, paid an honorarium, and attendees to the program may be…