The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on June 18, 2025 vacated portions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (2024 Final Rule) related to reproductive healthcare privacy....more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has rescinded several pieces of informal guidance, including its 2021 interpretation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (Section 1557), in response to executive...more
President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) on May 12, 2025 to address the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States with the goal of ensuring Americans have access to most-favored-nation (MFN) pricing,...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the Departments) announced their non-enforcement policy on May 15, 2025, indicating they will not enforce any new requirements imposed by the...more
5/16/2025
/ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Rules ,
Health Insurance ,
Mental Health ,
MHPAEA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
U.S. Treasury
The US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (together, the Departments) filed a motion to suspend the litigation proceedings in The ERISA Industry Committee vs. HHS et al. on May 9, 2025 while the...more
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders (EOs) and actions that may have an impact on group health plans. These EOs provide insight into the US administration’s policies and outline...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 6, 2025 issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking feedback on proposed updates to the Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) final rule on reproductive healthcare privacy is already subject to challenge even before its effective date. As described in our previous blog post, the HHS issued final...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued final regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will restore and expand the scope of civil rights...more
With the COVID-19 public health emergency and the presidential declaration of national emergency intended to end on May 11 and the US government recently issuing guidance on unwinding these emergency declarations, this...more
Federal litigation was in the spotlight last week with two major decisions related to the Biden-Harris administration’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance on providing abortion services as emergency...more
The COVID-19 pandemic brought multiple temporary changes for ERISA-governed group health and welfare plans. Certain coverage mandates apply for only the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (the Public Health...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Treasury issued new frequently asked questions on February 4, 2022, regarding coverage of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests at no cost sharing (i.e.,...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued their 2022 Report to Congress regarding their enforcement activities under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act as required under the...more
On July 19, the US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the Departments) issued Part 47 of their frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation. There are three new...more
The US Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (Departments) issued a set of 14 frequently asked questions (FAQs) on April 11....more
4/16/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
U.S. Treasury
Since the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was first detected in December, the death toll has continued to rise as the virus quickly spreads. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officials have stated that while the immediate...more
3/2/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Disclosure ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OCR ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
PHI ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Safety
Modifications to the rules require action by group health plan sponsors and their vendors, including revisions to policies and procedures and new privacy notices.
On January 17, the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S....more
1/28/2013
/ Business Associates ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Omnibus Rule ,
HITECH Act ,
Notifications ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI