Here are five federal policy issues that could impact the healthcare workforce in 2025:
1. Mark Meador, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the third Republican seat on the five-member Federal Trade Commission, recently told a Senate panel that the agency will focus on technology regulation and noncompete agreements in employment contracts in 2025.
2. Under former President Biden, the Department of Labor put protections into place that went into effect July 1, 2024, making anyone earning less than $43,888 entitled to overtime pay. That threshold was supposed to increase to $58,656 on Jan. 1, but was blocked by a stay from a federal court in Texas.
“We anticipate that the appeal will be withdrawn under the new leadership of the Department of Labor and that this projected $58,000-plus salary threshold will not go into effect,” Jennifer Phillips, a member of Chicago-based law firm McDonald Hopkins’ employment practice group, said in a recent webinar.
3. Given the Trump administration’s more aggressive stance on immigration, lawyers with McDonald Hopkins’ noted that compliance with immigration law will be important in the coming years, particularly regarding visas.
“I think we’re going to see much more regulation about I-9 requirements — what you need to do to verify employment eligibility to work in the United States. And probably, I think we’ll see less H-1B visas and an ability to attract talent from other countries,” they said. It is also likely that there will be increased enforcement ensuring that employers are hiring people who are legally authorized to work in the U.S.
4. In January 2024, the Biden administration issued a rule changing how employers determine employees versus independent contractors. The Labor Department was supposed to defend the rule in oral arguments before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, but it is now expected that the Department of Labor under Mr. Trump will reinstate the 2021 independent contractor rule.
The lawyers with McDonald Hopkins said that this rule is considered more employer-friendly, and employers may want to reevaluate whether certain positions should be held by independent contractors or employees.
5. Two U.S. representatives recently introduced legislation that would allow certified registered nurse anesthetists and physician anesthesiologists to provide anesthesia autonomously at the Veterans Health Administration. While the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology has expressed its support for the legislation, the American Society of Anesthesiologists issued a statement “strongly opposing” the legislation in a March 24 news release obtained by Becker’s.
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