What is the purpose of the Business Associate Agreement that a Care Plus Medical Ucc franchisee must sign?

The health care industry is heavily regulated. Some of the laws, regulations, and licensing requirements that apply to urgent care clinics and will apply to your Franchised Business, relate to the practice of medicine and the licensing and operation of counseling services; privacy of patient records (including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, and the Health Information for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH); the relationship of providers and suppliers of health care services with medical professionals, including state and federal anti-kickback and self-referral laws and state Medicaid laws concerning reimbursement for services for those who participate in Medicaid; prohibitions on fee splitting and self-referral restrictions (such as the federal "Stark Law" and similar state laws); and payment systems for medical benefits available to individuals through private insurance and government resources (including Medicare and Medicaid). The form of Business Associate

Agreement that you must sign is attached to this Disclosure Document as Exhibit I. Your Franchised Business may also be required to meet credentialing and enrollment requirements in order to participate in private and government insurance programs.

Whether many of these laws, regulations, and licensing requirements will apply to your Franchised Business, will depend on the location of your Franchised Business, the type of products and services you offer through your Franchised Business, and the types of private and government insurance that you accept at your Franchised Business. The laws and regulations and the permit, license, and certificate requirements that apply to counseling and therapy clinics varies state by state.

Source: Item 1 — THE FRANCHISOR AND ANY PARENTS, PREDECESSORS, AND AFFILIATES (FDD pages 7–11)