Health Law Monitor

"Play Ball" - The No Surprises Act and Requirements Related to Surprise Billing: The Second Installment

August 17, 2021

As detailed in an earlier blog post, Congress enacted the No Surprises Act (“Act”) to protect patients against “surprise bills.” A surprise bill occurs when a patient receives health care services from an out-of-network provider. It can occur in both emergency and non-emergency situations, although frequently it occurs during emergency situations when a patient does not choose the facility or…

2021 Changes to Kentucky's Open Records Act

August 6, 2021

The 2021 Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 312 (HB 312), which makes some important changes to Kentucky’s Open Records Act which became effective June 29, 2021. 

Kentucky Residency Restriction for Open Records Requestors 

Under the amended act, open records requests may now only be made by a “resident of the commonwealth.” Previously, any “person” could request inspection of records from…

A New COVID-19 Vaccination Order Issued in the City and County of Denver

August 4, 2021

On August 2, 2021, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment released an order requiring personnel of certain types of entities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 30, 2021. Those types of entities and their personnel bound to the order are:

• the City and County of Denver;
• care facilities;
• hospitals;
• clinical settings;
• limited healthcare settings;
• shelters for people…

Update Guidance for Employers Not Covered by OSHA's COVID-19 ETS

July 9, 2021

This article was originally published in Jackson Kelly’s Workplace Safety and Health News Alert on June 21, 2021. This guidance is pertinent to health care providers and relates to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements in various workplaces. Comments to the OSHA guidance issued on June 17, 2021 must be submitted by August 20, 2021.

On May 16, 2021, the Centers…

Preparing for the Implementation of West Virginia's Physician Assistants Practice Act

June 30, 2021

The West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 714 (“SB 714”) on April 9, 2021. The Governor signed the bill on April 21, 2021, and it will become effective on July 8^th, 2021. SB 714 amends certain provisions relating to the Physician Assistants Practice Act.¹  The key amendments are summarized below:

1. The bill dispenses with the practice agreement requirement.²  Now repealed, W. Va. Code §…

Going Public? Colorado's "Public" Health Insurance Plan

June 9, 2021

House Bill 21-1232 or the “public option bill” is before the Colorado legislature for the second time and the numerous rounds of rewrites have changed the character of the bill itself. Initially proposed as a public health insurance plan offered by the state, the bill now seeks to mandate a standardized health insurance plan that is operated by private insurers. If approved, the public option…

The Time is Now: Enforcement for Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Begins

May 13, 2021

On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will interpret and enforce Section 1557 and Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination based on sex to include both (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and (2) discrimination on the basis of gender identity. 

OCR is responsible for enforcing Section 1557 of the…

A Shield Is Upon Us - COVID-19 Protections For Health Care Providers

April 29, 2021

The West Virginia Legislature recently passed the “COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act,” which is intended to provide immunity to health care providers and health care facilities (among other persons and entities) from claims arising from incidents relating to COVID-19. W. Va. Code 55-19-1 et seq. The new statute went into effect on March 11, 2021 and provides that, “[n]otwithstanding any law to the…

Federal Agency Issues New Guidance on Substance Use Disorder Confidentiality Requirements

April 21, 2021

SAMHSA’s Recent Statement on 42 C.F.R. Part 2

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) issued a statement on April 9, 2021 regarding 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (commonly referred to as “Part 2”). In its statement, SAMSHA asserted that it intends to publish amendments to the Part 2 regulations later this year, and affirmed that the current Part 2 regulations (including the…

"Play Ball" - The No Surprises Act and Its Independent Dispute Resolution Process

March 22, 2021

Some Inside Baseball

Typically, when a person is seeking medical care, he or she will select a provider who is in-network. This is because a provider will discount its list prices (or charges) in order to be included in an insurance plan’s network.¹ Hence, a patient will often seek in-network providers because of this lower negotiated rate.²  But in practice, a patient does not always have this…

Colorado Candor Act C.R.S. 25-51-104 to 106

March 2, 2021

Many of you are aware of “I’m sorry” laws that have been passed in many states which allow doctors and other healthcare providers to express sympathy and regret about an adverse event without it being used against them in a later civil suit. These laws are intended to provide freedom for the practitioner to communicate with a patient on a personal basis without worry over legal consequences of…

The Sprint is Over: HHS Releases Anti-Kickback Statute Reform to Support Coordinated, Value-Based Care Arrangements (PART I OF THE AKS FINAL RULE MINI-SERIES)

December 18, 2020

The Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) is a criminal statute that prohibits transactions intended to induce or reward referrals for items and services reimbursed by federal health care programs (such as, Tricare, Medicare, and Medicaid). On November 20, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a final rule that amends…