On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a $4.348 million penalty for alleged HIPAA violations assessed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) against the University of...more
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, many employers have implemented a variety of safeguards to limit the spread of COVID-19 in their workplaces. One safeguard being utilized is a COVID-19 testing program. As a preliminary...more
1/7/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Risk ,
Vendors ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, which is one of several rules that...more
On December 7, 2020, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Executive Order No. 9Q (the “Order”) in anticipation of the approval of COVID-19 vaccines. The Order addresses and expands COVID-19 vaccine administration,...more
HHS Publishes Significant Updates to Anti-Kickback Statute Safe-Harbors and Beneficiary Inducement CMP Regulations -
On November 30 and December 2, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector...more
The Robinson+Cole Health Law Group is committed to examining and reporting on issues important to the health care and life sciences industries. Below are excerpts from our Health Law Diagnosis blog, where we post on fraud and...more
On November 3, 2020, a Massachusetts Federal District Court issued a notable decision on the applicability of the state’s medical peer review privilege in a federal proceeding, determining that the privilege does not apply to...more
On November 20, 2020, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released heavily anticipated final rules revising the regulatory exceptions to the Physician Self-Referral Law (also known as the Stark Law), the...more
Health care providers interested in applying for additional CARES Act Provider Relief funding from the Phase 3 General Distribution have until November 6, 2020 to submit an application to the Department of Health & Human...more
On August 24, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an “extension of the timeline” for publication of a final rule addressing changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law (or Stark Law) regulations....more
A United States federal district court judge in the Southern District of New York struck down four regulations issued by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) limiting paid leave entitlements under the Families First...more
On July 14, 2020 Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order No. 7HHH, in which the Governor modified state law to enable the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health (DPH) to temporarily suspend licensure,...more
On July 2, 2020 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance documents on the allowance of telehealth encounters for the Eligible Professional and Eligible Clinician electronic clinical quality...more
On June 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued timely HIPAA guidance (Guidance) regarding solicitations of blood and plasma donations from recovered COVID-19 patients....more
On June 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it would distribute up to $25 billion of CARES Act Provider Relief Funds to safety net hospitals and state Medicaid and Children’s Health...more
On May 22, 2020 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a 45-day extension of the deadline for providers who receive payments from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund to accept the Terms and Conditions...more
On May 8, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule with comment period (the “Interim Rule”) in the Federal Register, setting forth additional regulatory waivers and other...more
On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period (April 30 Interim Rule), building on previous regulatory waivers and other revisions to regulations issued...more
Amidst the cavalcade of regulatory and policy changes from federal and state governments intended to help health care providers confront the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 21, 2020 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...more
5/6/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Physicians ,
Self-Referral ,
Stark Law ,
Waivers
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recently issued four new executive orders to address the COVID-19 state of emergency (Executive Orders 7CC – 7FF) that contain provisions relevant to health care providers and facilities in the...more
On April 9, 2020 the Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued another Notification that it will exercise its enforcement discretion and not impose penalties for HIPAA violations in connection...more
On April 3, 2020 the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Policy Statement to notify health care providers and other parties subject to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) that the OIG will not impose administrative...more
Governor Lamont issued two new executive orders designed to expand the health care workforce, immunize providers from COVID-19-related liability, and protect patients from out-of-network bills for COVID-19 treatment. On April...more
Microsoft Issues Cybersecurity Risk Warning and Offers Help to Hospitals During COVID-19 Crisis -
On April 1, 2020, Microsoft issued a specific warning to health care entities alerting them that they are at particular risk...more
4/6/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Microsoft ,
OCR ,
Popular ,
Telemarketing ,
Vulnerability Assessments
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The CARES Act is designed to distribute capital quickly and broadly to help alleviate the economic impact of COVID-19,...more