NJBIZ Lawsuits from Open Source
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Coming next week: The 50 most powerful Spotlight: Technology people in real estate. Some lawyers fear ‘copyleft’ 2012 SUPPLEMENT TO NJBIZ lawsuits from open source. Page 17 ® RealREPORT 2012 Estate ® NOVEMBER 26, 2012 www.njbiz.com $2.00 Inside No bids, no problem in Sandy cleanup The 50 most influential people in the NJ real estate industry State says contract process slows work that must be started immediately storms and other natural disasters, including in the Northeast. Moskowitz said his firm has BY JARED KALTWASSER must win business in emergency conditions the know-how to collect, dispose of and recycle EVEN AS UTILITY crews from across the coun- that don’t necessarily include standard bid- everything from tree trunks to refrigerators. try swarmed New Jersey ahead of Hurricane ding processes. Just as importantly, he said, they know how to Ditching paper records Sandy, another industry began amassing a pres- “We come in with the technical expertise deal with the Federal Emergency Management ence here — disaster-recovery contractors. and the understanding of how to do it,” said Agency, which has an intricate set of require- Early adopters seeing savings A big storm like Sandy is a big opportuni- Jared Moskowitz, executive vice president and ments that must be met before the agency will from electronic patient data, but ty for companies whose work is to get hard-hit general counsel at Florida-based AshBritt Inc. reimburse cleanup costs. few have come aboard. areas back in working order. But before they The company has extensive experience AshBritt isn’t the only firm setting up shop . Page 5 can begin the challenge of cleanup, they first cleaning up after hurricanes, blizzards, wind- > See CONTRACTS on page 7 Hurricanes put pressure on insurance premiums Small but sweet A six-attorney IP firm successfully competes for major global clients. Page 5 Deals around the state The biggest moves from Hertz, Storms reversing Nintendo and others. Page 5 years of slowly declining rates Done deal Rutgers University’s governing bodies approve plan to absorb UMDNJ assets. .Page 11 Sandy-related premium increases will not be as extreme as some customers expect, says Paul Collins, of Willis. AARON HOUSTON Subscribe to NJBIZ: call 866-288-7699 B Y BETH FITZGERALD tion for insurers, said, “The price of insurance, rates. “The price of insurance for businesses BUSINESSES THAT WANT more insurance particularly in coastal areas of the Northeast, actually fell from early 2004 through mid-2011, protection in the wake of Hurricane Sandy had been rising even prior to Sandy,” after the so many businesses, even today, are paying may find premiums edging higher to reflect industry paid out billions for Hurricane Irene less for insurance than they did years ago,” .com the uptick in the frequency and severity of and other big-ticket weather events in 2011. Hartwig said. “Businesses are starting to see NJBIZ delivers daily news and analysis of New Jersey’s Northeast storms. grapevineHartwig said property insurance premiums increases in the price of insurance after a important economic issues online at www.njbiz.com. Robert Hartwig, president of the Insur- began rising in mid-2011, ending what had seven-year decline.” Sign up for our daily e-mail alerts, read our blogs, write a letter to the editor and more. ance Information Institute, the trade associa- been a long period of stable or declining > See INSURANCE on page 6 For address or name corrections, fax label to (732) 846-0421 Inside this issue: grapevine A look at some of the state’s Musical chairs in Christie’s inner fastest- circle, storm contract questions growing and Rutgers football pay. Page 13 companies. ® AROUND THE STATE Medicaid wants N.J. to return $50 million he Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has asked New Jersey to repay $50 million in Medicaid claims that Twere submitted by hospitals that did not meet minimum fed- eral requirements. According to the report from the Office of the Inspector General, five Garden State hospitals submitted claims from 2003 to 2007 for Medicaid when they did not meet the minimum number of days stayed at the hospital by Medicaid patients. The recommendation from the federal government was to repay the $50 million federal share of the nearly $100 million claimed by the hospitals. New Jersey’s Department of Human Services responded to the report by stating two of the hospitals did meet the federal minimum Medicaid requirements, which the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to. The state also claimed the overpayment should be offset by other claims from other hospitals that had not been approved because the state had reached its allotment of Medicaid claims. HHS said there was no evidence to support this claim, and will not offset the repayment. –Melinda Caliendo Obama unveils final basement waterproofing firm rules on health benefits Quality 1st Basement Systems had outgrown its Perth Amboy fa- FILE PHOTO The Barack Obama admin- cility and was preparing to move One of the games of running a Super Bowl is managing expectations, two panelists said last week at an event in the Meadowlands. istration has issued its final rules to a larger space in Aberdeen. and regulations for establishing Then, along came the post- essential health benefits that Sandy surge in demand for foun- Expert: Don’t expect to retire off Super Bowl must be included in insurance dation repairs and waterproof- plans that will be sold both in the ing, which will likely yield an earing up for the 2014 Super Bowl at napolis hosted the game in February 2012. health insurance exchange mar- additional 2,000 projects on top MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, was Anding and Townsend said the Super Bowl is ket and outside of the market. of the nearly 2,500 the firm does Gthe subject of Mdest12, North Jersey’s a 10-day event, but they urged the local tourism Insurance policies must pro- per year, according to general travel and tourism conference, presented last week community not to go into it with unrealistic ex- vide coverage for care under 10 manger Robert Cherry. by the Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visi- pectations for the amount of business they will do. categories, including emergency A basement waterproofing tors Bureau. Anding said a restaurant that normally is 60 services, prescription drugs and job typically involves installing Among the speakers were Jeff Anding, direc- percent full on the weekend will see a bump from preventative wellness services. a drainage system under the tor of external affairs for the convention and visi- the Super Bowl, but “you can’t expect to retire off The Department of Health basement floor, connected to a tors bureau of New Orleans, which will host the this four-day period — it is unrealistic. … It is up to and Human Services also named sump pump, Cherry said. Super Bowl on Feb. 3, and Susan Townsend, vice the businesses to maximize their opportunity and a potential benchmark plan states The company is handling president of visitor services for Visit Indy; India- not think it will be their whole year.” –Beth Fitzgerald can use to base their more specific the surge in waterproofing coverage requirements on. In work while renovating the New Jersey, the benchmark plan 30,000-square-foot building it identified by HHS was the Hori- acquired in Aberdeen to house Hartz confident as mall dispute granted a trial zon HMO Access HSA Compatible the offices and warehouse of plan, with additional coverage for the 22-year-old firm, which has hile Vitamin World’s legal fight to get pediatric oral and vision care. 120 employees and about $10 its recently demolished Harmon Cove HHS also issued final rules million in annual revenue. The WOutlet Center location restored has for calculating which plans will company expects to move to the been granted a trial, an executive at the firm that be considered bronze, silver, new facility this spring. owns the property is confident the retailer won’t gold or platinum. Plans that will Quality 1st Basement Sys- win the case. be considered bronze will aver- tems serves a market stretching “Any rational retailer wouldn’t want to re- age 40 percent of health care from Ocean to Bergen and the main in that mall, so for what reason, other than costs paid by consumers, while five boroughs of New York. The extortion, would they want to go to court?” said platinum plans will have 10 per- company lost power for two Gus Milano, executive vice president for finance cent of health care costs paid weeks after Sandy, and kept it- and leasing at Hartz Mountain Industries. by the insured. The distinctions self going with generator power. Hartz converted the former industrial proper- were created to help consumers –Beth Fitzgerald ty to an approximately 150,000-square-foot shop- compare different plans more ping center 25 years ago. The property once held FILE PHOTO easily. –Melinda Caliendo Meridian makes benefit 40 retail tenants, but Milano said only 10 percent According to Hartz, the mall was 10 percent occupied on Sept. 1. of the mall was occupied as of Sept. 1. Sandy surge powers a hurricane relief effort But Loryn P. Riggiola, an attorney at New- landlords have acted, entering into another lease The annual fundraising gala ark-based Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C. who is rep- with them may not be the best business decision.” basement specialist of the Jersey Shore’s Meridian resenting Vitamin World, said, “Given the way the –Katie Eder Even before Sandy hit, the Health hospital system was trans- NJBIZ (ISSN 1540-4161) is published weekly except year-end and one extra issue in December by Journal Multimedia, 1500 Paxton Street, Harrisburg, PA 17104.