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 […]
On November 8, 2021, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued multiple updates to the Health Care Fraud Self-Disclosure Protocol (“SDP”), incorporating legal changes made since the previous SDP revision in 2013. The OIG’s updated SDP may be accessed here. Below is an overview of the updates. By way of brief background, the SDP provides […]
Recently, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Dept. of Labor, Dept. of Treasury, and the Office of Personal Management jointly issued an interim final rule regarding surprise medical billing. The interim final rule, entitled “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing: Part 1” (the “Rule”) may be accessed here, and will go into effect […]
President Biden recently signed the Act to Prevent Across-the-Board Direct Spending Cuts, and for Other Purposes (the “Act”) (available here) into law. The Act extends the temporary suspension of certain mandatory Medicare FFS claim payment reductions until December 31, 2021. By way of background, the Budget Control Act of 2011 required mandatory across-the-board reductions to […]
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