Technical revisions to conform to the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. Final rule

This final rule amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations to incorporate statutory amendments. Certain statutes authorizing VA health care benefits were amended by the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. The statutory amendments affect enrollment in certain health care priority categories and exempt catastrophically disabled veterans from copayment requirements.     

Medical benefits for newborn children of certain woman veterans. Final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulation concerning the medical benefits package offered to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system. This rulemaking updates the regulation to conform to amendments made by the enactment of the Caregivers and Veteran Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, which authorized VA to provide certain health care services to a newborn child of a woman veteran who is receiving maternity care furnished by VA. Health services for newborn care will be authorized for no more than seven days after the birth of the child if the veteran delivered the child in a VA facility or in another facility pursuant to a VA contract for maternity services.     

Payment of reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished by non-VA providers in non-VA facilities to certain veterans with service-connected or nonservice-connected disabilities. Final rule

This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations concerning emergency hospital care and medical services provided to eligible veterans at non-VA facilities. The amendments are required by section 402 of the Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008. Among other things, the amendments authorize VA to pay for emergency treatment provided to a veteran at a non-VA facility up to the time the veteran can be safely transferred to a VA or other Federal facility and such facility is capable of accepting the transfer, or until such transfer was actually accepted, so long as the non-VA facility made and documented reasonable attempts to transfer the veteran to a VA or other Federal facility.     

Drug and drug-related supply promotion by pharmaceutical company representatives at VA facilities. Final rule

This final rule amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations regarding access to VA facilities by pharmaceutical company representatives. The purposes of the rule are to reduce or eliminate any potential for disruption in the patient care environment, manage activities and promotions at VA facilities, and provide pharmaceutical company representatives with a consistent standard of permissible business practice at VA facilities. The amendments will facilitate mutually beneficial relationships between VA and pharmaceutical company representatives.     

Expansion of state home care for parents of a child who died while serving in the armed forces. Final rule

This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations concerning the payment of per diem to a State for providing nursing home care to eligible veterans. The amendments remove a restriction on VA's payment of per diem, which required all non-veteran residents of a State home to be spouses of veterans, or parents of veterans all of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. Under this final rule, non-veteran residents of the State home must be spouses of veterans, or parents of veterans any of whose children died while serving in the Armed Forces.     

Recognition of organizations and accreditation of representatives, attorneys, and agents--VA. Proposed rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to revise existing procedures and requirements regarding recognition of service organizations and accreditation of their representatives and agents, attorneys, and individuals seeking to represent claimants for benefits administered by VA. These amendments are necessary to improve clarity and to enhance VA's ability to assure high quality representation of claimants.     

刑法修正案立法功能及其矫正

全国人大常委会制订并颁布刑法修正案,是符合我国《宪法》和《立法法》规定的,但全国人民代表大会也应成为刑法修正案的立法权主体,且拥有主要的、基本的立法权限,而全国人大常委会的立法权限则应当是次要的、部分的,由此决定两者的立法功能有着主次之分。刑法修正案应与其他刑法体例相互结合,发挥其系统性功能。因此,国家立法机关应针对呈现立法扩张态势的刑法修正案（八）草案进行功能矫正,由全国人大依法行使刑法修正案的立法权,由全体人大代表半数通过,并将现行刑法典重新公布。     

Payment for non-VA physician services associated with either outpatient or inpatient care provided at non-VA facilities--VA. Final rule

This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations concerning payment for non-VA physician services that are associated with either outpatient or inpatient care provided to eligible VA beneficiaries at non-VA facilities. Generally, when a service-specific reimbursement amount has been calculated under Medicare's Participating Physician Fee Schedule, VA would pay the lesser of the actual billed change or the calculated amount. Also, when an amount has not been calculated or when the services constitute anesthesia services, VA would pay the amount calculated under a 75th percentile formula or, in certain limited circumstances, VA would pay the usual and customary rate. Adoption of this final rule is intended to establish reimbursement consistency among federal health benefits programs to ensure that amounts paid to physicians better represent the relative resource inputs used to furnish a service, and to achieve program cost reductions. Further, consistent with statutory requirements, the regulations continue to specify that VA payment constitutes payment in full.     

To lease or not to lease? The leasing of indigenous statutory lands in Australia: lessons from Canada

In Australia, land rights legislation provides statutory schemes for the transfer of land to Indigenous peoples. The first significant land rights legislation was passed by the Australian Commonwealth government in 1976. This was the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (ALRA) 1976 (Cth). In 2006, the Australian Commonwealth government passed significant amendments to the ALRA. One of the key amendments introduced the leasing of Aboriginal ‘township lands’ held under that Act. It is these leasing amendments which are a focus of this article. A primary motivation behind the amendments was to decrease poverty in Indigenous communities and to allow for economic development on Aboriginal lands. This article critiques the township leasing scheme under the amended Act. It questions whether the new leasing arrangements are the most appropriate forms of leasing to achieve economic development on Aboriginal lands and to benefit the Aboriginal communities who hold these lands. In 2008, leasing amendments were passed to Queensland's statutory land scheme in the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 (Qld) and these amendments are subject to review in this article. Furthermore, the article examines alternative forms of leasing used for economic development on Indigenous reserve lands in Canada and whether there are lessons that Australia could learn from these tenures and their modes of leasing.     

Payment for non-VA physician services associated with either outpatient or inpatient care provided at non-VA facilities--VA. Proposed rule

This document proposes to amend Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical regulations concerning payment for non-VA physician services that are associated with either outpatient or inpatient care provided to eligible VA beneficiaries at non-VA facilities. We propose that when a service specific reimbursement amount has been calculated under Medicare's Participating Physician Fee Schedule, VA would pay the lesser of the actual billed charge or the calculated amount. We also propose that when an amount has not been calculated, VA would pay the amount calculated under a 75th percentile formula or, in certain limited circumstances, VA would pay the usual and customary rate. In our view, adoption of this proposal would establish reimbursement consistency among federal health benefits programs, would ensure that amounts paid to physicians better represent the relative resource inputs used to furnish a service, and, would, as reflected by a recent VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit of the VA fee-basis program, achieve program cost reductions. Further, consistent with statutory requirements, the regulations would continue to specify that VA payment constitutes payment in full.     

Dental care--provision of one-time outpatient dental care for certain veterans. Final rule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulations regarding the authority to provide one-time outpatient dental treatment to eligible veterans following discharge or release from active duty. In section 1709 of Public Law 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Congress amended the eligibility criteria for the one-time dental treatment benefit. This rule is necessary to incorporate the statutory amendments into VA regulations.     

Defer to national circumstances or follow blindly

With respect to the current amendments to the Company Law, a balance shall be reached between the freedom and compulsion. In the current legal environment of China, it is improper for corporate legislation to adopt the authorized or eclectic capital system, and adequate amendments shall be made to the existing statutory capital system. The independent director regime conflicts with the current corporate governance structure. On the contrary, the enhancement of the legal status of the board of supervisors and the expansion of its authority are the ongoing direction in the reform of the supervisory mechanism in the corporate governance structure of China. The amendments to the Company Law shall separate the corporate legislation and the ruling of state-owned enterprises reform, hence enabling the corporate law back to the nature of private law and neutrality. The Company Law shall be amended to provide for one-person companies and eliminate wholly state-owned companies.     

盲目照搬还是尊重国情——对当前《公司法》修改中几个问题的反思

With respect to the current amendments to the Company Law, a balance shall be reached between the freedom and compulsion. In the current legal environment of China, it is improper for corporate legislation to adopt the authorized or eclectic capital system, and adequate amendments shall be made to the existing statutory capital system. The independent director regime conflicts with the current corporate governance structure. On the contrary, the enhancement of the legal status of the board of supervisors and the expansion of its authority are the ongoing direction in the reform of the supervisory mechanism in the corporate governance structure of China. The amendments to the Company Law shall separate the corporate legislation and the ruling of state-owned enterprises reform, hence enabling the corporate law back to the nature of private law and neutrality. The Company Law shall be amended to provide for one-person companies and eliminate wholly state-owned companies.     

刑事诉讼制度发展的三种模式：一个概要性的分析

从各国刑事诉讼制度变迁的基本事实出发,大致可以概括出三种不同的刑事诉讼制度发展模式,即立法修律模式、司法判例模式与试点实验模式.这三种模式具有不同的内在特质,在推动刑事诉讼制度发展上各有其独特优势与内在局限.各国刑事诉讼制度变迁的历程表明,刑事诉讼制度发展不能只依赖一种模式,应是多种模式的组合或交替使用.目前我国刑事诉讼制度发展主要依靠立法修律和试点实验,司法判例还未被有效运用.未来应该根据各国刑事诉讼制度发展的经验以及上述三种模式的实际价值与内在局限,合理确定我国刑事诉讼制度发展的模式组合。     

Retrospection and perspective: Chinese criminal procedure law (1979–2009)

The Criminal Procedure Law was promulgated 30 years ago, which is an important starting point for the construction of Chinese Criminal Procedure Law system, and its first amendment in 1996 further adapted to the demand of democracy, the rule of law and social reforms, which might be viewed as a milestone in the history of Chinese criminal justice though the core issues here had not been thoroughly solved. Thereafter, three inherent defects remain in Chinese criminal justice, for which China has also taken initiatives to further amend the Criminal Procedure Law. However, there are various challenges and dilemmas in further amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law, including lack of a constitutional basis, lack of complementary judicial reforms, departmentalism in legislation and restraints of traditional ideas. The orientation of reforms shall be further improvement of the adversary system, focusing on complying with international conventions and coordinating with the results of the institutional reforms of justice in China.     

A Secret Police: The Lasting Impact of the 1986 FOIA Amendments

The 1986 Freedom of Information Act amendments were passed as a last-minute rider to Reagan-era War on Drugs legislation. The three pieces – a broad restructuring of Exemption 7, the law enforcement exemption; the addition of exclusions for law enforcement and intelligence requests; and introduction of a new fee structure – have had a lasting impact on FOIA implementation and contribute to the contemporary inability to affect police transparency. Review of the 1986 FOIA amendments’ legislative history documents the White House’s determination to loosen law enforcement oversight and congressional appeals to exaggerated fears of illicit drug users. The study considers the effect on judicial interpretation of Exemption 7, exploring decisions before and after the amendments, while also analyzing FOIA use and implementation patterns through a dataset of annual reports from 1975 until present. The analysis reveals a sharp increase in Exemption 7 claims and “no records” responses, both attributable to the 1986 FOIA amendments.     

Special report on reimbursement. The safe harbor for small investment interests: where do joint ventures go from here?

There is no specific federal self-referral legislation presently proposed or in effect that statutorily prohibits providers from referring Medicare or other patients to entities in which the referrers have an investment interest, except for existing "Stark" legislation, which applies only to clinical laboratory services, effective January 1, 1992. (See Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 1, January 1991, at 3.) Thus, health care joint ventures are not per se illegal. The publication of the Safe Harbor Regulations does nothing to change this fundamental fact, and it should not cause providers to abandon existing joint ventures, or planned ones, in a "knee-jerk" fashion, without careful analysis. Of course, there is no guarantee that expanded "Stark" legislation, or some other new self-referral legislation, will not be enacted in the future to prohibit providers from referring patients to entities in which they have an investment interest. Because of this uncertainty, all health care joint ventures should contain "unwinding" provisions to govern the rights and obligations of investors in the event that the venture is required to, or the participants voluntarily elect to, dissolve. Any new venture being contemplated should plan for dissolution, and existing ventures should undertake an internal review of their charter documents to assess whether the rights and duties of all participants upon dissolution are properly spelled out. If not, amendments should be made now, while all participants are on good terms. A failure to agree in advance upon such important issues is an invitation to discord, and possibly even litigation.     

Class orders now possible under Ontario's public health legislation

In April 2003, the Ontario Legislature amended the province's public health legislation as part of a package of amendments related to the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Although the amendments to the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) were clearly designed to address emergency situations like SARS, they may have unintended and negative consequences for people living with HIV/AIDS.     

“设区的市”环境立法的理想类型及其实现——央地互动的视角

设区的市环境立法从规范完善和功能提升出发补强了地方环境治理的有效性。基于全面建设生态文明和依法治理的双重目标约束,央地互动在纵向关系、横向关系和动力机制三个维度上为市级环境立法权设定了方向性约束。市级环境立法必须在制度框架、工具选择、执行过程、主体互动、利益整合等方面做出新的制度设计。为此,必须超越中央立法和地方立法之关系的传统限定,以及中央中心主义和地方自主治理的制度分歧,塑造市级环境立法创新的结构秩序,突出底层环境立法的优先性与上溯能力,提升市级立法权的创新能力。