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NY’s Gestational Surrogacy Law Comes with Estate Planning Requirements
April 8, 2021 | Trusts & Estates

On February 16, 2021, New York state legalized compensated gestational surrogacy. The Child-Parent Security Act (the Act) imposes estate planning requirements on the intended parents.

Required Estate Planning

Prior to implanting the embryo in the surrogate, the intended parent(s) must sign a will. The will must:

  1. designate a guardian for all children born of
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NYS Legalizes Gestational Surrogacy: Changes for Health Care Providers
April 7, 2021 | Health Services

On February 16, 2021, the Governor enacted the Child-Parent Security Act (“the Act”) through emergency regulations, legalizing compensated gestational surrogacy in New York State.

With gestational surrogacy, a surrogate gestates an embryo for the intended parents. The embryo may contain the genetic material of the intended parents or donor gametes. Traditional surrogacy, where the surrogate

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AOT Orders a Useful Tool during COVID Pandemic
January 5, 2021 | Health Services

The pandemic has prompted the reallocation of hospital beds from psychiatric care to treatment of COVID patients. This has occurred as mental illness has been on the rise. To cope with the insufficient number of psychiatric beds, it is important for hospitals to curtail readmissions. An often-underutilized tool to do so is the assisted outpatient

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Best Practices for Virtual Court Hearings in Hospitals
November 18, 2020 | Health Services

The COVID-19 pandemic has had another, less-discussed effect on hospitals. Hearings that traditionally take place in hospitals – such as guardianships, retention, medication over objection, or assisted outpatient hearings – have shifted to a virtual platform.

Below are some considerations for hospital personnel participating in virtual hearings.

(1) Familiarize yourself with the technology

Due to

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New Executive Orders Aid OPWDD Facilities amid COVID-19
May 18, 2020 | Compliance, Investigations & White Collar | Health Services

In our prior bulletin, we discussed the likely lack of civil immunity from Justice Center enforcement actions conferred in other contexts by Executive Order 202.10. However, other Executive Orders provided some relief in the form of certain suspended or waived requirements applicable to facilities licensed by the Office of People with Development Disabilities (OPWDD).

By

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Little COVID-19 Relief for Facilities and Providers Subject to Justice Center Actions
April 23, 2020 | Compliance, Investigations & White Collar | Health Services

Although Executive Order 202.10 gave health care providers some immunity for COVID-19 related care, this immunity does not extend to actions by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs (“Justice Center”). A provider or facility could be prosecuted for allegations of abuse or neglect by the Justice Center for actions taken

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OCR Pushes Back Against Discriminatory State Triaging Guidelines
April 21, 2020 | Health Services

Two recent decisions of the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) illustrate that age and disability status cannot be used as blanket criteria for denying access to health care services, even during a pandemic. This should serve as a warning to healthcare providers about the risks in making triage decisions

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Nonprofits Eligible for CARES Act Assistance
April 9, 2020 | Banking

Although small businesses have been the focus of coronavirus-related financial assistance, nonprofits have been similarly struggling. They, too, must cover payroll expenses, rent and financing obligations. Rightly, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020, also applies to them.

The following describes the benefits

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Embryo Destruction Lawsuits Open New Legal Frontier
February 20, 2019 | Health Services

As of January 2019, following a months-long break in the cases due to judicial transition, at least 70 lawsuits arising from the accidental destruction of human embryos and eggs were pending in Ohio state courts. The cases highlight the complex questions surrounding the legal status of embryos and, by consequence, theories of liability for the

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