State law mandates that all three businesses be licensed and undergo annual health and safety inspections. But for as long as Heidi Moran can remember, state regulators have allowed Southeastern New Hampshire Services to operate without any oversight.

That will change on July 1, 2016, when the state plans to cut funding to Southeastern New Hampshire Services and two other unlicensed residential programs. To keep their facilities running, the three centers will need to bill Medicaid and private insurers, who are now required to cover substance abuse treatment under the Affordable Care Act. But before the three centers can bill insurers, they’ll need a health care facility license that requires compliance with hundreds of regulations on everything from fire protection to door handles.

“Regardless of the outcome, the drama is illuminating the often uneasy balance of power between big landlords and the retailers that fill their malls.”

Looking at this from Simon Property Group’s perspective, they should be very worried about their upcoming business license challenges. We would recommend that they monitor their renters very closely, because they will assume (at least) partial responsibility every time one of the retailers that fills their malls gets caught without proper licenses.

Question: Do different levels of care require different levels of licensure?

Amanda Gannon’s Response: Generally speaking, there aren’t separate licenses required for different types of health care providers (i.e. cardiologist versus general practitioner versus oncologist) to care for patients via home health care. There are, however, various levels of licensing for different types of care that may be delivered. You may only need a Home Care License to feed, bathe, dress and help patients with household chores. In turn, you would need a Home Health Care Agency License if you will be changing IVs, drawing blood, administering medications, or checking and recording vital signs. The complexity of obtaining the proper license is often directly correlated to the level of care you provide.

Business Licenses, LLC has put the finishing touches on a new cheat sheet, this time breaking down every state according to their requirements for home health care licenses. The document is available for free.

There is no industry in America that is safe from disruption. Professionals who care about proper compliance with government rules and regulations should be aware of how their department may be turned on its head by sudden innovations that originate elsewhere. In an upcoming webinar, Business Licenses LLC will discuss disruptions and how they impact regulatory compliance for all of us. We will discuss some of the world’s most talked about business models and draw lessons that every tax and legal department will want to internalize.

In particular, our panel will discuss (1) Uber, Lyft, and the never-ending regulatory challenges of ridesharing companies, (2) the rise of home health care as an essential medical service, and (3) how technology upgrades have turned ordinary retailers into second-hand dealers.

The webinar will be conducted on Thursday, February 26th at 2pm EST. The presentation will run for 45 minutes, followed by questions. If you are interested, register here.

As of December 31, 2014, durable medical equipment suppliers will need a license to operate in Colorado. To learn more about what a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier is and what kind of licensing is involved you can check out the recording from our Healthcare Webinar in which we reviewed DME licensing.

The city of Alabaster, AL is trying to strike a compromise with hospitals and warehouse owners on an amended business license fee structure.

“The revision approved by the council in June removed a $15 million cap on gross receipts used for calculating a business license in various categories… For both categories, the city created a multi-tiered method for implementing the new fees.”

It is not uncommon for cities to adopt multi-tiered business license fees. To learn how to stay on top of business license fee changes, contact us. We can help.