This past Monday, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its final rule aimed at strengthening the HIPAA Privacy rules as they are applied to reproductive health data....more
4/30/2024
/ Abortion ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
OCR ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues
Employers looking to enhance their suite of employee benefit programs, and focused on lessons learned during the pandemic on wellbeing, are interested in providing greater access to wellness tools. And, the vendors who...more
1/30/2024
/ Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Mobile App Privacy Guidelines ,
Mobile Apps ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Wellness Programs
As we have been covering, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in their Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, leaving it to states to regulate access to abortion in their territory. The Biden Administration’s...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: We previously discussed how to apply the HIPAA wellness rules to a premium differential based on a participant’s vaccination status in our Legal Update. At the time, we were left to interpret the existing...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As employers continue to struggle with strategies for safely re-opening their workplaces, we have previously discussed the possibility of mandating a vaccine or providing incentives for getting the vaccine....more
Synopsis: For years, employers have struggled to understand what level of incentives in wellness programs might be considered “voluntary” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed changes to the required Privacy Notice under the HIPAA privacy regulations. If finalized, these would be the first significant changes to the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Because everything has a coronavirus angle now….this blog post covers various issues and considerations plan sponsors and administrators should keep in mind as the coronavirus outbreak continues to...more
3/6/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Policies ,
Government Agencies ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
PHI ,
Plan Administrators ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety
Seyfarth Synopsis: Recent changes to the federal rules governing confidentiality of substance use disorder (SUD) patient records may require updates to agreements between group health plans and their third-party vendors....more
1/31/2020
/ Confidential Information ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Records ,
Medicare ,
PHI ,
SAMHSA ,
Service Agreements ,
Substance Abuse ,
Third-Party Relationships
On Tuesday, August 22, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the EEOC to revisit its controversial rules placing certain limits on employer-sponsored wellness programs under the Americans with...more
8/30/2017
/ AARP ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Wellness Programs
On December 7th, Congress passed a bi-partisan bill covering a number of topics in the health care area, intended to address perceived discrete problems with the current legislative landscape. President Obama is expected to...more
Concluding many years of uncertainty regarding the EEOC’s official enforcement position, on May 16, 2016, the agency issued two sets of final regulations affecting employer-sponsored wellness programs. The EEOC’s proposed...more