Contibuted by Paul J. Welk

pwelk@tuckerlaw.com; 412.594.5536

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a Notice of Final Determination, marking the first civil money penalty issued by HHS for HIPAA Privacy Rule violations, finding that Cignet Health of Prince George’s County, Md., (Cignet) violated the…

Experts Say Medical Office Embezzlement Common At Medical Practices, Particularly At Start Of Year.

American Medical News (1/17, Elliott) reported that medical office embezzlement "is common at medical practices, and experts say the risk is especially high at the beginning of the year." This is because "patients are paying an ever-larger share of their…

Proposed regulations for the Affordable Care Act were announced today.  Insurers in all states are now required to publicly justify any unreasonable rate increases starting in 2011.  For 2011, proposed rate increases of 10 percent or higher will be publicly disclosed and thoroughly reviewed.

Links:

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/12/20101221a.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010/12/21/white-house-white-board-health-reform-rate-review

http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-32143_PI.pdf

(CNN) — A Virginia federal judge on Monday found a key part of President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care reform law unconstitutional, setting the stage for a protracted legal struggle likely to wind up in the Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson struck down the "individual mandate" requiring most Americans to purchase health…

The American Medical Association maintains a website for current information on healthcare reform – from a provider perspective.

www.ama-assn.org/ama/home/index.shtml