In this two-part Triage series, Gina Bertolini, Sarah Carlins, and Jianne McDonald analyze two recent HHS initiatives that address cybersecurity risks to hospitals and health systems nationwide. Cybersecurity events involving...more
In this two-part Triage series, Gina Bertolini, Sarah Carlins, and Jianne McDonald analyze two recent HHS initiatives that address cybersecurity risks to hospitals and health systems nationwide. Cybersecurity events involving...more
3/27/2024
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
Telehealth
As we emerge from the COVID health emergency, there is widespread agreement that Americans are suffering from inadequate access to mental health care. To shore up community mental health systems, on 23 March 2023, the...more
In this episode, Sarah Carlins and Spencer Hamer discuss employment law and the health care sector. They review highlights from 2022, as well as developments that will impact employment law and the health care sector in 2023,...more
3/30/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telehealth ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
In this episode, Sarah Carlins and Spencer Hamer discuss employment law and the health care sector. They review highlights from 2022, as well as developments that will impact employment law and the health care sector in 2023,...more
3/29/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telehealth ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
UPDATE: Shortly after the publication of this alert on December 20, 2021, the United States Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments on January 7, 2022 on both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s...more
12/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule with comment titled “Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination” (the IFC).1 The IFC establishes COVID-19 vaccination requirements for...more
Health Care partners Sarah Carlins and Jackie Hoffman interview Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety partner Craig Leen in this episode of Triage, recorded in collaboration with our Working Wise podcast. As the former...more
7/8/2021
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Clinics ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
OFCCP ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Physicians ,
Subcontractors ,
Wage and Hour
On 10 June 2021, after months of anticipation by workers and the business community, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard1 (COVID ETS) with significant implications...more
For the year ending August 2020, provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that opioid overdose deaths increased 26.8 percent compared to the previous 12 months, with opioid overdoses...more
On 2 December 2020, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued a long-awaited final rule (the Final Rule or Rule). The Final Rule adds multiple new safe harbors,...more
1/22/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Technology ,
OIG ,
Safe Harbors ,
Telehealth ,
Value-Based Care
On this week’s episode, Carla DewBerry and Sarah Carlins discuss a recent California Federal District Court decision in David Wit v. United Behavioral Health, in which the court found that the defendant insurer violated ERISA...more
12/11/2020
/ Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Health Claims ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Plan Sponsors ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Mental Health ,
Plan Administrators ,
Scope of Coverage ,
Standard of Care ,
Substance Abuse
As we previously reported, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) overhauled 42 U.S.C. §290dd–2, commonly referred to as “part 2.” Part 2 regulates the confidentiality of substance use disorder...more
In this week’s episode, Carla Dewberry, Sarah Carlins, and Cheryl Choice discuss the ways in which the COVID-19 emergency has changed the landscape of behavioral health in the United States. The presenters address the ways in...more
We are around 90 daysfrom when the first reported case of COVID-19 hit a nursing home in the state of Washington. Since that time, the nursing home industry has continued to be hit hard by the virus throughout the country....more
As of April 20, 2020 there were over 32,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. In an effort to ensure hospitals and other facilities have the personal protective equipment (“PPE”) and supplies needed to fight...more
On March 6, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (the “Act”) which allows physicians and other health care professionals to bill Medicare for patients covered under...more
On March 13, 2020, the American Medical Association (“AMA”) adopted Current Procedural Terminology (“CPT”) code 87635 to be used nationwide to report laboratory testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus. ...more
Introduction -
Last month, a jury found seven defendants guilty in a federal bribery case that has caught the attention of the health care law world due to its novel approach to prosecuting fraud and abuse. ...more