Last October in a post called HIPAA Enforcement is About to get Serious, I explained that HHS was receiving significant pressure to increase its enforcement activities and was about to commence its “Phase 2” audit program. After a slight delay in the launch date, yesterday HHS announced that the phase 2 audits are now getting off ...
There are a lot of reasons to have updated addresses for all your employees, COBRA is definitely one of them. Based on recent case law, it’s more important than ever for employers to have a change-of-address process that keeps the person responsible for providing COBRA election notices in the loop.
Qualified beneficiaries (e.g ...
Another unencrypted laptop is stolen; another health care provider is hit by HHS with significant penalties. This time, HHS has announced that Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (“Feinstein”) has agreed to pay $3.9 million to settle its HIPAA violations. As with the recent HHS settlement involving North ...
Nothing good can happen if you share PHI with a business associate without having a business associate agreement in place. North Memorial Health Care of Minnesota (“North Memorial”) learned that lesson this week when HHS announced that it had reached a $1.55 million settlement with the hospital. The HHS investigation ...
Generally, group health plans are subject to the HIPAA portability, privacy and security rules. An on-site clinic that provides treatment of minor injuries or illness is likely not a group health plan. In other words, your partially raided first aid kit is not a group health plan subject to HIPAA. Even if your on-site clinic meets ...
As an ERISA attorney, when I hear about a company providing great benefits, I immediately think of a good medical plan or a 401(k) that must have a large matching contribution. I saw an article this weekend that got my attention on a new strategy that some employers are using to get their young employees to save for retirement while ...
Lyndsey R. Barnett
If you are like many employers, you may have realized you were in over your head with these new reporting requirements or just didn’t have the time to get up to speed or prepare the forms and, therefore, you likely hired a third-party vendor to assist you in meeting these new obligations. Great first step on your part! However ...
Currently, the Internal Revenue Service uses a cycle system to stagger the submission deadlines for employers seeking a favorable determination as to the qualified status of their individually designed retirement plans. As announced last year, the 5-year remedial amendment cycle program for individually designed plans is ...