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The Indiana Health Coverage Programs announced that it has received approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) to implement a statewide provider certification and enrollment moratorium for numerous Home- and Community-Based Services (“HCBS”) 1915(c) waiver providers. The moratorium becomes effective August 1, 2026, and initially will remain in effect for six months, although Indiana may seek six-month extensions.

Unlike many Medicaid enrollment moratoria that apply to a single provider type or geographic area, Indiana’s action applies…
Continue Reading Indiana HCBS Update: Indiana Imposes Statewide HCBS Provider Certification and Enrollment Moratorium

  • According to a recent report, cardiology outpatient strategy is shifting towards ambulatory surgery centers (“ASCs”) and away from hybrid office-based lab/ASC models to streamline staffing, space and back-office functions. Many health systems are prioritizing cardio ASC developments that are physically connected to, or in close proximity with, hospitals to support clinical integration and quality oversight.
  • Nearly one in ten private U.S. hospitals are now private equity-owned, totaling 447 facilities. Of the total PE-owned hospitals, REITs own about one-third while 

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    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: Nearly 1 in 10 US Hospitals Now PE-Owned | Pearl Innovation District Generates $224M in Economic Impact | AdventHealth Continues Land Banking

    With another blog post, there is another opportunity to touch on the recent changes to cannabis law in Minnesota. Check out Part 1 at the link here. With the introduction aside, we can turn to some changes from the Cannibus Bill (SF 4401) to the licensing rules that seem to address some practical issues around licenses and how they change over time.

    Use It or Lose It: Qualified Applicant Status Now Expires

    Every cannabis licensee must complete…
    Continue Reading Minnesota Adult Use Cannabis: Tweaking Licensing Rules for the Real World 

    Illinois Expands Project Labor Agreement Requirements for Renewable Energy Projects

    Illinois’s renewable energy landscape shifted significantly back on January 8, 2026, when Governor Pritzker signed the Illinois Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA). Among its many provisions, one significant change stands out for developers, EPCs, investors, and contractors who perform the underlying construction of green energy projects: a major expansion of project labor agreement (PLA) requirements.

    While PLAs have long been required for many utility-scale solar and wind

    …
    Continue Reading Illinois Expands Project Labor Agreement Requirements for Renewable EnergyProjects

    New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (“MAID Act”), introduced in the New York Senate in January 2025 and amended, in part, by the State Assembly in February 2026, will take effect on August 5, 2026, creating a new statutory pathway for qualifying terminally ill adults to request and self-administer medication to end their lives. The MAID Act is part of a broader national trend toward laws commonly referred to as “death with dignity” or “physician-assisted dying” laws.

    The…
    Continue Reading Preparing for New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act: Compliance Considerations for a Growing State-Law Trend

    The State of Louisiana has amended its athlete agent law, bringing sweeping changes to the state’s legislation regulating athlete representatives. Particularly noteworthy, the legislation broadens the coverage of the state’s athlete agent law to include individuals acting as name, image, and likeness (NIL) agents for high school and college athletes.
    The Old Louisiana Athlete Agent Law
    Previously, the Louisiana law was limited to individuals negotiating employment contracts on behalf of an athlete with a professional sports team. This…
    Continue Reading Louisiana Has Amended its Athlete Agent Law, Reflecting the NIL Era

    Following a series of hospital sale-leaseback transactions that preceded bankruptcy filings in 2024 and 2025, lawmakers at both the federal and state levels have taken notice. In response, legislators have introduced measures aimed at regulating, or increasing oversight of, certain health care real estate transactions.

    These efforts seek to protect community hospitals from transactions that may weaken their finances, shift disproportionate value to private-sector investors or jeopardize access to essential services by saddling providers with long-term lease obligations.

    As…
    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: A Flurry of Legislation Restricting Hospital Real Estate Transactions – What You Need to Know

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    Hiring your first out-of-state employee can introduce a complex web of local and state employment laws that may differ dramatically from those you already follow. From paid leave requirements and pay transparency laws to non-compete restrictions and city-specific ordinances, multi-state employment compliance can quickly become a challenge for unprepared employers.
    Hiring an Out-of-State Employee Requires Extra Caution
    Stop. Look. Listen.

    I remember seeing these safety signs at railroad crossings when I was growing up. Stopping, looking and listening was…
    Continue Reading Hiring Your First Out-Of-State Employee? Watch for These Compliance Risks

    In two recent civil antitrust complaints, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) alleged that hospital systems used payer contracting provisions—so‑called steering restrictions that require hospitals to be included in nearly all of an insurer’s commercial networks at the most favored level of benefits—to restrict health insurers’ ability to offer narrow network plans, tiered network plans or other insurance plans that give its members financial incentives to use specific network providers. DOJ brought these actions under…
    Continue Reading OhioHealth Settlement Signals Growing Antitrust Risk in Managed Care Contracting

    The Indiana Court of Appeals (“the Court”) affirmed a temporary commitment order after finding clear and convincing evidence that a patient was gravely disabled because of mental illness. Rejecting the patient’s argument that medication noncompliance, denial of his diagnosis and temporary homelessness were insufficient to establish grave disability, the Court emphasized the totality of the circumstances. The record showed repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, abandonment of outpatient treatment, longstanding medication noncompliance, delusional beliefs and conduct demonstrating a substantial impairment in judgment…
    Continue Reading Indiana Court of Appeals Upholds Grave-Disability Finding Based on Pattern of Mental Health Deterioration

    The Indiana Department of Health (“IDOH”) published proposed amendments to the Residential Care Facility (“RCF”) regulations at 410 IAC 16.2-5 governing resident rights, residency agreements and involuntary resident evictions. The proposal represents one of the most significant updates to Indiana’s assisted living regulatory framework in recent years and is intended to align Indiana’s rules with the federal Home and Community-Based Services (“HCBS”) Settings Rule.
    Background
    According to IDOH, the proposed amendments are intended to ensure compliance with federal HCBS…
    Continue Reading Assisted Living Update: Indiana Proposes Significant Revisions to Residential Care Facility Resident Rights, Residency Agreements and Eviction Rules

    Employers with operations in Chicago and Cook County should prepare for local minimum wage increases effective July 1, 2026, along with related notice, posting, and compliance obligations. While the Illinois statewide minimum wage remains unchanged, Chicago and Cook County will implement higher local rates that apply based on employer size and location.

    Chicago and Cook County Minimum Wage Increases
    The city of Chicago is increasing its set minimum wage on July 1, 2026, for employers with four or more

    …
    Continue Reading Chicago and Cook County Minimum Wage Increases Take Effect July 1: EmployerCompliance Updates

    Senate Enrolled Act 285 (“SEA 285”) will expand the statutory definition of “gravely disabled”. The law also creates a new statutory framework prohibiting unauthorized camping or sleeping on public property. This new misdemeanor expressly requires law enforcement officers to first assess whether emergency detention is appropriate before pursuing criminal penalties under the street-camping provisions. As a result, hospital emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric facilities will see an increase in law-enforcement-initiated transports for emergency detention, particularly where the individual is…
    Continue Reading Indiana Law Broadens ‘Gravely Disabled’ Standard Effective July 1, 2026

    Another session of the Minnesota legislature has come to a close, which brings with a new round of changes to Minnesota’s cannabis laws. With this session, SF 4401 was the omnibus cannabis bill that did the heavy lifting when it was signed by the governor at the end of the legislative session. To keep things interesting (and shorter), I will call it the “Cannibus Bill” throughout. In this post (and likely multiple parts to follow), I will break down…
    Continue Reading Minnesota Adult Use Cannabis: Cannabis Cleanup

    Employers operating in Columbus, Ohio, have approximately six months left to prepare for a significant change in hiring practices.

    Effective January 1, 2027, the City of Columbus will begin enforcing its pay transparency requirements under Ordinance 2898-2025, which will require covered employers to include a “reasonable salary range or scale” in employment postings.

    While some employers may view this as a simple change to job advertisements, the reality is that pay transparency laws often expose broader compensation, equity, and…
    Continue Reading The Countdown to Columbus Pay Transparency: What Employers Should Be Doing Now

    If your business has more than 16 employees in Illinois, a new law—the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act—requires you to provide additional job-protected leave for parents with a newborn or newly adopted child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

    The Illinois Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA) takes effect June 1, 2026. Here’s what you need to know.
    What Is NICLA?
    NICLA is a new Illinois law that gives employees the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave…
    Continue Reading Understanding the New Illinois Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA)