In July 2021, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (the Departments) released an interim final rule, “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing, Part I” (Part I IFR). In October 2021, the Departments released a second interim final rule, “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing, Part II” (Part II IFR). On August […]
On April 11th, 2022, New York became one of 25 U.S. states to grant permanent full practice authority to Nurse Practitioners (NP). The 2022 State of the State proposal additionally allows NPs with more than 3,600 hours of experience to practice without a contractual practice-agreement relationship with a doctor. With full practice authority, nurse practitioners […]
HIPAA itself does not contain a private right of action for individuals following unauthorized disclosures of medical information. Yet, HIPAA does not prohibit individuals from seeking remedies through state or other law. Each U.S. state’s tort law system can potentially allow individuals to pursue reparations when they are harmed by a data breach. With the […]
On April 6th, 2022, a HIPAA-regulatory Request for Information (RFI) was released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) soliciting feedback from the public for future rulemaking. The RFI seeks information on how the industry views “recognized security practices,” and on OCR’s compensating individuals based on harm they […]
Participants in the healthcare industry have seen a multi-front threat related to their information security practices/healthcare data – increased enforcement and fines by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR); increased scrutiny from plaintiffs’ attorneys and State Attorneys General; and increased threats from malicious actors. Recent reports underscore this […]
On April 22, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), in conjunction with several other federal agencies, filed a notice of appeal in opposition to a Texas federal judge’s summary judgment ruling regarding the No Surprises Act (“NSA”). The underlying lawsuit was filed by the Texas Medical Association (“TMA”) and Adam Corley (a […]
In an effort to combat the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed the Uninsured Program to provide claims reimbursement to health care providers for: (1) testing uninsured individuals for COVID-19; (2) treating uninsured individuals with COVID-19; and (3) administering COVID-19 vaccinations to uninsured individuals. The Health Resources […]
On February 23, 2022, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order,[1] which served to strike down certain portions of the federal No Surprises Act (“NSA”) related to the independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) process for resolving payment disputes between out-of-network providers and group health […]
As of January 15, 2022, to increase access to free testing for many Americans, the Biden-Harris Administration has required private insurance companies and group health plans to cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Consumers of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests will be paid either up front, or be reimbursed after […]
In June 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that would require, amongst other things, employers with 100 or more employees to adopt a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. OSHA’s mandatory vaccination policy would affect approximately 84 million employees. An overview of the OSHA Vaccine Policy requirements can be […]
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