HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
2022 DSIR Deeper Dive: OCR’s Right of Access Initiative
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
On March 7, 2025, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it would begin investigating four medical schools and hospitals pursuant to President Donald Trump’s...more
Cyber, Privacy, and Technology Report - Welcome to your monthly rundown of all things cyber, privacy, and technology, where we highlight all the happenings you may have missed....more
Section 1557 is the non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Section 1557, which has been in effect since 2010, is intended to prevent discrimination in certain health programs or activities that...more
For the first time in nearly 50 years, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has finalized revisions to regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,...more
On April 26, 2024, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act,...more
Turns out, ignorance really is bliss, at least according to the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), in publishing its final rule on algorithmic discrimination by payers...more
Reflecting on lessons learned and complaints received during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released detailed frequently asked questions (FAQs)...more
On January 5, 2022, we discussed the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2023 proposed rule released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). On April 28, 2022, CMS issued the NBPP 2023 Final Rule. CMS...more
As part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Section 1557 is a multilayered approach to prohibit discrimination based on color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in health programs or “activities that receive federal...more
On October 20, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced the resolution of two (2) sets of religious discrimination complaints to ensure clergy had...more
On September 25, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a document entitled, “Effective Practices for Preventing Sexual Harassment.” ...more
Faced with an ongoing public health emergency that threatens to overload healthcare systems, many states, including California, have developed or revisited their crisis care guidelines to address a potential COVID-19 patient...more
The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) has issued new guidance on prohibiting racial discrimination in healthcare, and new enforcement actions show that HHS OCR remains...more
The Office for Civil Rights at HHS has announced the resolution of its first civil-rights investigations concerning the COVID-19 public health emergency. First, on April 8, HHS OCR announced a resolution of its review of the...more
Two recent decisions of the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) illustrate that age and disability status cannot be used as blanket criteria for denying access to health care services, even...more
Over the weekend, the Office for Civil Rights at HHS announced that it has opened several investigations into various states’ plans and guidelines related to the allocation of scarce resources amid the ongoing health...more
Timely Topics - The final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on May...more
On September 8, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a proposed rule titled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities” (“Proposed Rule”)[1] to implement the nondiscrimination...more
On September 8, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) proposed new regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Section 1557 prohibits...more