From OCR to AI The Future of Media and Image Analysis in eDiscovery
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
On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a letter rescinding with immediate effect its March 2022 “HHS Notice and Guidance on Gender Affirming Care,...more
As we bid farewell to 2024 and look ahead to the new year, we reflect on the many evolving compliance obligations that health and welfare plan sponsors tackle each year. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it...more
Access to quality healthcare services has long been a priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) this agency has, since at least 2001, sought to provide...more
On December 5, 2024, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter reiterating obligations that covered entities have under the May 2024 final rule related...more
Welcome to our seventh issue of The Health Record - our healthcare law insights e-newsletter. This will be our final issue of 2024. When we started this publication earlier this year, our goal was to provide our clients,...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) published its final rules implementing the anti-discrimination provisions under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Final Rule”) on May...more
Applicable Provider Types: All - Is Your Entity in Compliance? Recent regulatory language makes clear that most healthcare providers must provide free auxiliary aids and services for patients with disabilities....more
Applicable Provider Types: All - Is Your Entity in Compliance? Recent regulatory language makes clear that most healthcare providers must provide free translators or interpreters for patients with limited English...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the myriad claims for religious accommodation that came out of mandatory COVID vaccination policies, employers have become familiar how to handle requests for religious accommodation in the workplace. ...more
Melanie Fontes Rainer recently marked the completion of her second year leading the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. In this podcast she shared some of the accomplishments over this time as well as what the health care...more
The Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, contained a provision (commonly referred to as Section 1557) prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in...more
As the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) annually funds over $38 billion in extramural research, including about $6 billion for clinical trials. On May 28,...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed rule entitled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities.” The proposed rule, designed to advance health equity and protect people from...more
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a final rule on May 6, 2024 (the “Final Rule”) under Section 1557 of the...more
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the long-awaited Nondiscrimination in Health Programs...more
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule revamping the non-discrimination regulations issued under § 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The revised rules apply to all...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following years of back and forth, new final rules were published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 6, 2024 reinstituting the Department’s interpretation that the prohibition on...more
On May 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published their final rule on nondiscrimination in the Federal Register...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: New regulations effective August 6, 2024 restore and expand scope of civil rights protections under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act....more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a final rule on April 26, 2024 (the “Final Rule”) under Section 1557 of...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
Preventing discrimination and bias in connection with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care are among the principal current focuses of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and were included in...more