The Notifications of Enforcement Discretion issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act during the...more
5/15/2023
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HITECH Act ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
Like many regulatory standards, enforcement of HIPAA was relaxed as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. With the end of the public health emergency declaration on May 11, 2023, the broad relaxed HIPAA enforcement also...more
Although it certainly seems anticlimactic, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the City of Boston could enforce COVID-19 vaccination requirements on city employees. The plaintiffs, the Boston police and...more
With the adoption of new technology, including the quick and unexpected shift to virtual learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 institutions are at an increased risk of cyberattacks and threats thereof. The rise in...more
In a Statement of Administration Policy submitted to Congress on January 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced its plans to end the COVID-19 national emergency and the public health emergency. The statement reads as...more
On January 11, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services extended the COVID-19 public health emergency through at least April 11, 2023. This is the twelfth extension of the PHE since January 2020. HHS last renewed the...more
On November 14, 2022, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) issued Public Health Emergency Order No. 2022-21, which immediately rescinded other public health emergency orders that were previously issued in...more
On Monday, April 18, 2022, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida issued a 59-page order striking down the CDC’s national mask mandate on airplanes and mass transit, which was based on a regulation...more
April 14, 2022 On April 12, 2022, Secretary Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services extended the existing public health emergency for 90 days, effective April 16, 2022, until July 15, 2022...more
The White House has released a COVID-19 preparedness plan that assumes we will be living with the virus for the long term.
The 96-page plan has four primary goals: (1) protect against and treat COVID-19, (2) prepare for...more
On February 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) posted FAQs designed to make clear that civil rights protections remain in full force and effect during disasters or...more
On January 14, 2022, Secretary Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services extended the existing public health emergency for 90 days, until April 16, 2022. Without this extension, the declaration would have...more
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...more
10/4/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
OSHA ,
PHI ,
Privacy Rule ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Acting Massachusetts DPH Commissioner issued an order on August 26, 2021 authorizing the issuance of temporary licenses for certain providers and renewing the expedited process for issuing those temporary licenses....more
On July 19, 2021, Secretary Becerra of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services extended the existing public health emergency for 90 days, until October 20, 2021. Without this extension, the declaration would have...more
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a nationwide emergency COVID-19 workplace safety rule, accompanied by a 916-page explanatory preamble. President...more
6/25/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Healthcare ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
This morning, Governor Charlie Baker made a major announcement accelerating the Massachusetts COVID-19 reopening plan.
On May 29, 2021, the Commonwealth will lift all industry COVID restrictions and lift all capacity...more
On 12 March 2021, the United Nations Open-ended Working Group (“OEWG”), established by General Assembly Resolution 73/27 and consisting of all United Nations Member States, adopted by consensus its Final Substantive Report on...more
On January 7, 2021, Secretary Azar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services extended the existing public health emergency for 90 days, until April 21, 2021. Without this extension, the declaration would have...more
December 23, 2020 On December 22, 2020, in response to the escalating concerns about the potential of a post-Christmas COVID-19 surge like that experienced after Thanksgiving, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued...more
On December 16, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance for employers regarding the intersection of employer COVID-19 vaccine policies and various federal equal employment opportunity...more
12/21/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Nearly 20 years to the day after the first HIPAA privacy regulations were announced, HHS has posted proposed revisions to HIPAA, evidence that even after twenty years, HIPAA privacy remains a work in progress. These proposed...more
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on December 10, 2020 rejected a broad challenge to Governor Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders intended to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rejecting both the plaintiffs’...more
Halloween or HIPAA: Which is Scarier?
HIPAA and the Pandemic -
Telehealth:
- On Friday, March 20, 2020, OCR announced it will “exercise its enforcement discretion and will not impose penalties for noncompliance with...more
10/29/2020
/ Breach Notification Rule ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disclosure ,
First Responders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Hospitals ,
New Guidance ,
Notification Requirements ,
OCR ,
Patient Access ,
Patients ,
PHI ,
SAMHSA ,
Telehealth ,
Virus Testing
On October 28, 2020, a joint cybersecurity advisory was coauthored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services...more