Summary -
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) requires group health plans and health insurers to submit information regarding the costs of prescription drug costs and other health care services each year to the...more
Summary -
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) requires the disclosure of information to ensure that brokers and certain consultants receive no more than reasonable compensation for their services....more
Summary -
This is the second briefing in our series on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) and transparency regulations. It concerns a new rule under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)...more
Summary -
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a temporary enforcement policy to address frequently asked questions about the requirement for certain service providers to disclose direct and indirect compensation...more
Summary -
Throughout 2020 and 2021, employers sponsoring health and welfare plans have needed to respond to a myriad of legislative and regulatory changes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and new health legislation. To...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance to address how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule applies to various entities’ requests for information...more
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has continued its enforcement of HIPAA’s privacy and security rules in the new administration, announcing a number of settlements of...more
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) will have significant and immediate impacts on employee benefit plans, employers, and other plan sponsors and plan administrators. ...more
Summary -
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued guidance to assist plan fiduciaries in fulfilling their ongoing obligation of locating missing or nonresponsive participants and distributing benefits to such...more
Following a very quiet start to HIPAA settlement activity in 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced eight settlements with covered entities and business...more
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York blocked federal rules seeking to remove nondiscrimination protections for health care patients. The blocked rules would have removed protections against...more
8/21/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Gender Identity ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Reform ,
New Rules ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Title IX ,
Title VII
In Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court this week upheld regulations issued by the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) that...more
7/13/2020
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employer Rights ,
HRSA ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v Pennsylvania ,
Religious Exemption ,
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump v Pennsylvania ,
U.S. Treasury
To reduce the risk that participants will lose benefits during the COVID-19 outbreak because they fail to meet certain procedural requirements, the U.S. Departments of Labor and the Treasury announced the extension of a...more
On March 19, 2020, the New Jersey Department of Treasury announced that it extended the deadline for applicable coverage providers to file Forms 1095 with the New Jersey Division of Taxation from March 31, 2020, to May 15,...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) imposed $2,154,000 in civil monetary penalties against Jackson Health System in Florida for failing to meet HIPAA privacy and security...more
10/28/2019
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Data Breach ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Information Technology ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Regulatory Violations
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services announced it reached a settlement with Elite Dental Associates of Dallas (Elite) to resolve a complaint alleging Elite impermissibly disclosed a...more
10/8/2019
/ Calculation of Penalties ,
Corrective Actions ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Information Technology ,
Notice of Privacy Practices ,
OCR ,
Online Reviews ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement ,
Social Media
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld a rule that expanded the maximum length of time for short-term, limited duration insurance (STLDI). STLDI is coverage that lasts a limited period of time and is...more
On May 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced an agreement with Touchstone Medical Imaging, LLC (Touchstone)...more
5/8/2019
/ Corrective Actions ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Security Rule ,
Security Standards ,
Settlement Agreements
The IRS announced yesterday that it will expand its determination letter program for tax-qualified retirement plans. Under previous IRS procedures, a plan sponsor could submit its plan document to the IRS, and the IRS would...more