On December 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“HHS”) announced a $65,000 settlement with West Georgia Ambulance, Inc. for  violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security and Breach Notification Rules.

According to HHS, in 2013 the ambulance company reported a breach

Tucker Arensberg is pleased to be a gold sponsor of the 26th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) Health Law Institute taking place from March 11–12, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA. Jerry J. Russo, Chair of the White Collar Criminal Defense Group and Kathleen A. Nandan, a former litigator with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2019.  A summary produced by that bipartisan group is attached.

If enacted, the CONNECT for Health Act solutions would be as follows:

  • Create a bridge program to help providers transition to the goals

Click on the link to an article published in the New York Times (12/4, Abelson) reporting the American Hospital Association and other hospital groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration “over a new federal rule that would require them to disclose the discounted prices they give insurers for all sorts of procedures.” The hospital

Attached are links to the CMS Press Release and the Trump Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First.

The Trump Executive Order was first issued on June 21, 2019.

The CMS Press Release indicates action on two rules.

First, the “proposed” transparency and coverage rule would

As another part of the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, OIG proposed revisions to the existing EHR Anti-Kickback Safe Harbor and added a cybersecurity component.

The initial EHR Safe Harbor was developed in response to President George W. Bush’s 2004 initiative to extend EHR nationwide within 10 years, i.e. 2014.  The proponents of those EHR

On November 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“HHS”) announced a $1,600,000 civil money penalty for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security and Breach Notification Rules.

According to HHS, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (TX HHSC) “operates state

On October 22, 2019, CMS and OIG (Office of Inspector General) released new proposed rules regarding Stark Law Exceptions and Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors in response to what has universally been christened as the “Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care”, first announced by HHS in June of 2018.

As background, please remember that, although the Anti-Kickback Safe

On November 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“HHS”) announced a $3,000,000 settlement with the University of Rochester Medical Center (“URMC”) for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security and Breach Notification Rules in 2013 and 2017.

According to HHS, URMC