On June 28, 2012, the United State Supreme Court upheld the Obama administrations health reform law. As a direct result of this law, by 2014 millions of new potential patients will be looking for greater access to health care. This development furthers the opportunity for health care professional to provide services through the franchised business model.
To learn more about the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision, please view our video analysis of the Affordable Care Act decision.
Early bird pricing for the full conference ends September 15. Register now, space is limited. All full conference registration fees include two continental breakfast, two lunch presentations, opening cocktail reception and networking dinner, and closing cocktail reception and networking dinner.
Register here: http://www.cvent.com/d/wcqql3/4W
Questions about the conference, contact Gina Grabarek.
As analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision continues to trickle in, one point is certain: The need for greater access to quality healthcare services continues to grow. As leaders of the Franchising in Health Care Conference, we know that franchising is a viable distribution method for high quality and affordable health care. We believe that franchising will have a greater purpose in health care as more medical professionals turn to franchising to provide needed services in both in underserved and unserved communities.
We invite you to subscribe to our Beyond Healthcare Reform blog which examines the impact of new rules and regulations affecting employers, group health plans, and health care providers, as well as insurance contracts and all aspects of plan design and coverage We post regularly so check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed.
If your health care business is interested in franchising, be sure to register for our Franchising in Health Care Conference.
Download Opinion of the Court
-Kevin Hein, Faegre Baker Daniels & Tracy Weise, Weise Communications
The debate over whether home care workers should be paid minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has reached the United States Senate, where a group of Republican senators has introduced a bill that would block proposed regulations by the Department of Labor (DOL) affecting home care workers. In December 2011 the DOL published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations regarding the FLSA’s companionship exemption. Currently, the FLSA exempts “companionship services” from its minimum wage and overtime requirements, which has been interpreted to exempt home care workers. The proposed rules would limit the companionship exemption to fellowship and protection, which would include activities such as playing cards, visiting with friends, and taking walks. The new rules would allow individual, household, or family employers to use the narrower companionship exemption, but all home care workers employed by third party employers such as employment agencies would be subject to the FLSA’s requirements. The public comment period was extended twice and closed on March 21, 2012.
On June 7, 2012, thirteen Republican senators introduced the Companionship Exemption Protection Act (S. 3280) to preserve the companionship exemption as it currently exists. Supporters of the bill say that the new regulations would increase health care costs and force families to seek institutional care, which in turn strains state budgets. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 3066) in September 2011 but remains in committee.
We will continue to monitor the rulemaking process and related legislation and will provide detailed updates of any final rules or laws.
The Faegre Baker Daniels LLP franchise team will host the sixth annual FaegreBD Franchise Summit on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, August 7 – 8, 2012, in Minneapolis. Don’t miss this premier event featuring national franchise leaders and discussions on best practices that will increase the overall value of your franchise system.
We are pleased to welcome Kat Cole, President of Cinnabon, as our keynote speaker.
We hope you can join us this year.
Registration details coming soon.
USA Today recently reported on the most profitable franchises, showing that home health care is proving itself to be a top contender in the franchising world. Thanks to high demand, the low overhead and respectable ROI, home health care, specifically for senior care, is prospering.
Recent struggles over rules calling for mandatory overtime and minimum wage requirements for employees have made headlines. Franchisors are fighting these laws believing that seniors’ will not be able to afford the overtime payment that would be charged for overnight care. They also argue that the overhead is clearly not enough to justify paying their employees more.
15 states, however, do require overtime payment for home health care workers and despite these higher costs companies are still turning a profit. The article from USA Today overviews this situation.
We are pleased to welcome Scott Hillstrom, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder, of The HealthStore Foundation®, as our keynote speaker.
Scott D. Hillstrom, J.D., is co-founder and Chairman of The HealthStore Foundation®. Mr. Hillstrom is a U.S. based entrepreneur and business/legal advisor. Prior to co-founding The HealthStore Foundation® in 1997, Mr. Hillstrom served for 10 years as the volunteer President of Steiger International, a youth evangelism ministry spun out of Youth With a Mission. After practicing business law as Managing Partner of Hillstrom & Bale, Ltd., in the 1980s, he became co-founder and Managing Director of Rehab One, Inc., a multi-state network of hospital-based medical clinics in the 1990s. Since then, he has advised and invested in businesses involved in computer networking, software, entertainment, intellectual property and other fields in the U.S., Europe, Africa and New Zealand.
Faegre Baker Daniels, M2000 and Weise Communications are pleased to host the 2012 Franchising in Health Care Conference, October 24-25, 2012, in Denver, CO.
The event, Formulas for Success, brings together senior industry leaders from the franchise and health care fields to learn best practices, receive advice from industry leaders and service experts, and participate in discussions on how to overcome challenges and grow your franchise system at the ONLY franchise conference dedicated to franchising health care.
The need for health care franchises is growing as communities and individuals struggle to access the health services they need. Yet, health or wellness-based franchisors face complicated legal, employment, licensing and marketing hurdles. Continue successful growth and legally provide services across state lines and country boundaries.
We invite you to browse this website for information about the conference, including speaker biographies, breakout sessions, registration information, and more. We will continue to post industry and event related information on this blog, so check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed.
On December 15, 2011 the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. Currently, the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts “companionship services” from its requirements, which has been interpreted to exempt home care workers. The new rules would limit the companionship exemption to “fellowship” and “protection,” which would include activities such as playing cards, visiting with friends, and taking walks. There are also related changes proposed to record-keeping requirements and the treatment of home care workers employed by third parties.
We anticipate that the proposed rules will be published in the Federal Register soon, at which time the public will have 60 days to comment. We will continue to monitor the rulemaking process and will provide a detailed update of the final rules, if and when they are promulgated.
Highlighted at the 2011 Health Care in Franchising Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., was the fact that health care regulations continue to evolve, health care costs continue to rise and a broader delivery of health care for seniors is necessary. Due to this environment, franchising has become a desirable option for broad spectrum of health services and an opportunity for individuals to get into the business of health care. While these opportunities grow, conference organizers continue to express a need for caution in making the right decisions in legal, marketing, financial and operations. Layering the complex worlds of health care and franchising has great potential, when the right decisions are made.
Fox Business recently published a report in its Small Business Center describing the growth of home health care/senior care franchises. The article, “Home Health Care Franchises on the Rise as Boomers Age, Costs Rise,” effectively describes the need for franchising in this industry. If you are interested in learning more about health care and franchising, be sure to subscribe to our feed or check back for more updates and announcements related to our 2012 Franchising in Health Care Conference.
