FTLF Managing Partner, Ted Waters, and Partner, Scott Sheffler, were quoted in the most recent edition of the Health Care Compliance Association’s Report on Research Compliance. The article, titled Revised UG Ups Micro-Purchase Level, Eases Award Termination, Addresses Indirect Rates, describes a few of the most significant changes to the Uniform Grants Guidance. You can read our initial overview of those changes here.

In the article, Mr. Sheffler spoke to the increased micro-purchase threshold, noting that smaller organizations should not necessarily choose to make the $50,000 micro-purchase threshold all-encompassing, instead recommending “incremental increases on certain goods and services.”

Mr. Waters highlighted the troublesome removal of the phrase “for cause” in sections related to grant termination, sharing his concern for the unexpected shift to allow grant terminations “for convenience.” In contrast, he praised the clarifications around negotiated indirect cost rates, encouraging grantees to develop “a NICRA policy to cover classic general and administrative costs with the 10%” and to specify which costs it applies to.

For more insight on the impact of UG changes on federal grantees, read the full article.

The article appears in the Health Care Compliance Association’s Report on Research Compliance, Volume 17, Number 12, released on November 19, 2020. Published monthly with a weekly email update, the Report on Research Compliance (RRC) covers new developments in grants, budgets and organizations governing research.

Founded in 1996 (HCCA) and 2004 (SCCE), and incorporated in 2011, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics & Health Care Compliance Association is a member-based 501(c)(6) non-profit organization for compliance and ethics professionals worldwide, across all industries.

About Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP

Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP (FTLF) is one of the few practices in the U.S. devoted to federal grants law. FTLF frequently advises clients on all aspects of grants management. For over 50 years, the firm has worked with a variety of recipients of federal funds: for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, local governments, colleges and universities, research institutions, health care and education entities, and other health and human service organizations serving the public interest.