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U.S. Treasury Secretary Announces Some Relief for Taxpayers Due to Coronavirus

Client Alert

In an unprecedented move, U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has announced some limited relief for taxpayers in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

What It Is

The relief provides some individuals and corporations an extension of time for the payment of their 2019 taxes. An individual who owes up to $1 Million and a corporation that owes up to $10 Million may have an additional 90 days to pay their 2019 taxes without incurring any interest or penalty for late payment. The relief is automatic says Mnuchin, requiring only that you file your tax return.

What It Is Not

This is not an extension of time to file your tax return. Individuals and C corporations must file their return or file for an extension by the April 15, 2020 filing deadline.

What We Don’t Know

The one thing that was not commented on is if there will be an extension of the due date for the first quarter estimated tax payment. Typically, individuals who are required to make estimated payments must make their first payment by April 15. Hopefully, guidance on this will be issued in the coming days.

State of Ohio

At this time, the State of Ohio has not issued any statement about extending either the due date or payment date for Ohio income taxes. The Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants has written a letter to the governor requesting that an extension be put in place and we are currently awaiting a response.

This information is all based on the press conference at which Mnuchin spoke today. No formal guidance or announcements have come from the IRS at this time. We will continue to update you on any changes as guidance becomes available.


Ohio’s Managed Care Overhaul Delayed – New Implementation Timeline

At the direction of Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) launched the Medicaid Managed Care Procurement process in 2019. ODM’s stated vision for the procurement was to focus on people and not just the business of managed care. This is the first structural change to Ohio’s managed care system since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) approval of Ohio’s Medicaid program in 2005. Initially, all of the new managed care programs were supposed to be implemented starting on July 1, 2022. However, ODM Director Maureen Corcoran recently confirmed that this date will be pushed back for several managed care-related programs.

Laboratory Specimen Collection Arrangements with Contract Hospitals - OIG Advisory Opinion 22-09

On April 28, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published an Advisory Opinion[1] in which it evaluated a proposed arrangement where a network of clinical laboratories (the “Requestor”) would compensate hospitals (each a “Contract Hospital”) for specimen collection, processing, and handling services (“Collection Services”) for laboratory tests furnished by the Requestor (the “Proposed Arrangement”). The OIG concluded that the Proposed Arrangement would generate prohibited remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) if the requisite intent were present. This is due to both the possibility that the proposed per-patient-encounter fee would be used to induce or reward referrals to Requestor and the associated risk of improperly steering patients to Requestor.

Property Owner Protection from Tax Valuation Challenges

New legislation provides significant new protections for commercial property owners against challenges to valuation primarily by local school boards and prohibiting side agreements to avoid tax valuation changes. The Ohio Legislature has approved House Bill 126 which will go into effect July 2022 but will effectively apply to the 2023 tax valuation year.

No Surprises Act Update: The IDR Portal is Open

The No Surprises Act (“NSA”) became effective January 1, 2022, and has been the subject of lawsuits and criticisms since its inception. The goals of the No Surprises Act are to shield patients from surprise medical bills, provide to uninsured and self-pay patients good faith estimates of charges, and create a process to resolve payment disputes over surprise bills, which arise most typically in emergency care settings. We have written about Part I and Part II of the NSA previously. This update concerns the Independent Dispute Resolution (“IDR”) procedure created by Part II but applicable to claims covered by Part I. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finally opened the Portal for providers to submit disputes to the IDR process following some updated guidance regarding the arbitration process itself.

Updated FAQs for the No Surprises Act - Good Faith Estimates

The No Surprises Act (“NSA”) became effective January 1, 2022. Meant to protect consumers from surprise medical bills, the new law is good for consumers, but vexatious for health care providers and facilities. One particular source of frustration is the operationalization of the Good Faith Estimate (“GFE”) requirement, governed by Part II of the regulations that implement the NSA. The GFE requirements apply broadly to all healthcare providers and facilities that practice within the scope of their state-issued license.