Health Law Advisor

A post on the Health Law Advisor blog will be of interest to many of our readers: "HHS Office for Civil Rights Bulletin on Civil Rights Issues During the COVID-19 Crisis," by attorneys Helaine I. Fingold, James S. Frank, Frank C. Morris, Jr., Ashley Creech & Tzvia Feiertag of Epstein Becker Green.

Following is an excerpt:

The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a bulletin on March 28, 2020 to remind entities covered by federal civil rights statutes of their continued obligation to prohibit ...

On December 14, 2018 the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) formally issued a Request For Information (“RFI”) seeking public input on “ways to modify the HIPAA Rules to remove regulatory obstacles and decrease regulatory burdens in order to facilitate efficient care coordination and/or case management and to promote the transformation to value-based healthcare, while preserving the privacy and security of PHI.”  OCR is seeking comments for a series of 54 different specific questions (many with additional subparts ...

In the midst of one of the worst flu seasons to date, many hospitals and other health care organizations enforced mandatory flu vaccine policies for their employees to boost vaccination rates. However, recent litigation and governmental actions should serve as a reminder that health care entities should carefully consider safeguards whenever implementing mandatory vaccine policies and to not categorically deny all requests for religious exemptions based on anti-vaccination beliefs.

In January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the formation of a ...

Surprisingly amidst the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uproar, President Trump today signed an executive order addressing cybersecurity for the federal government and critical infrastructure, along with international coordination and cyber deterrence. The substance of the order, which is about to be made public, comes from various press releases and interviews with administration officials. The order is composed of three sections on cybersecurity and IT modernization within the federal government, protecting critical infrastructure, and establishing a cyber ...

Kyler Prescott was a 14 year old transgender boy who was receiving puberty-delaying medication to help him transition.  Shortly before Kyler’s death he had “suicidal ideation” and was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital - San Diego in April 2015.  The hospital has a Gender Management Clinic to provide services to children with gender dysphoria and related issues.  A lawsuit under the ACA’s non-discrimination provision, § 1557, alleges that after admission, despite assurances that he would be referred to with masculine pronouns, hospital employees referred to Kyler as a ...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights ("OCR"), the agency tasked with enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), recently announced that it will redouble its efforts to investigate smaller breaches of Protected Health Information ("PHI") that affect fewer than five-hundred (500) individuals.

It has been widely known that OCR opens an investigation for every breach affecting more than 500 individuals; this announcement describes OCR's new initiative to investigate smaller breaches as well.  OCR ...