HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer on Progress and News at OCR
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
Podcast - Data Privacy and Tracking Technology Compliance
Patient Data and Privacy
HIPAA Tips With Williams Mullen - Telehealth After the Pandemic
Relaxed HIPAA Restrictions For Providers Using Telehealth
Webinar: Investigating and Resolving Sexual Assaults on Campus
The Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, contained a provision (commonly referred to as Section 1557) prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a proposed rule entitled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities.” The proposed rule, designed to advance health equity and protect people from...more
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, or any combination thereof, in a health program or activity, any part of which is...more
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the long-awaited Nondiscrimination in Health Programs...more
On May 6, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule revamping the non-discrimination regulations issued under § 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The revised rules apply to all...more
On May 6, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published their final rule on nondiscrimination in the Federal Register...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: New regulations effective August 6, 2024 restore and expand scope of civil rights protections under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act....more
On January 25, 2024, HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance and responses to frequently asked questions regarding nondiscrimination regulations related to patient visitation. Hospitals, long term care facilities,...more
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Sept. 7 announced a proposed rule to bar discrimination based on disability.[1] “The rule, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal...more
n January 9, 2024, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a final rule, entitled “Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes” (the 2024 Final Rule). The 2024 Final Rule clarifies the...more
The U.S. government entered into two recent settlements with healthcare providers who allegedly denied deaf and hearing-impaired patients or their caregivers auxiliary aids for effective communication. These settlements...more
HHS recently announced a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that modifies, rescinds, and retains previous conscience provisions that allow health care workers to deny care based on their religious or moral beliefs. HHS is...more
On July 25, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a long-awaited proposed rule on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the nondiscrimination protections...more
Summary - Federal agencies will enforce Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The announcement reverses an effort under the previous...more
WHAT MATTERS - Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announces the resolution of two major discrimination complaints against healthcare providers. Originally Published in the Birmingham Medical...more
Developments continue under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, the Act’s nondiscrimination provision. For example, the first federal appellate court in the nation (the Sixth Circuit) has recently interpreted the...more
On May 24, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced its proposed changes to the regulations issued under Section 1557 of the Affordable Act Care (“ACA”). Section 1557 is the primary...more
As discussed in a previous alert, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued a proposed rule amending provisions of its 2016 rule prohibiting certain forms of...more
On May 24, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued a proposed rule reversing certain provisions of its 2016 rule prohibiting certain forms of discrimination under Section 1557 of the...more
There has been confusion as to whether the Affordable Care Act’s nondiscrimination provision (“ACA”) affects a covered entity’s notice of privacy practices (“NPP”) or data breach notifications. OCR has issued guidance...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (HHS OCR), the office tasked with enforcing Section 1557 of the ACA, has a new Director and Deputy Director for Civil Rights. The new Director, Roger...more
On December 31, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction in Franciscan Alliance, Inc. v. Burwell, N.D. Tex., No. 16-cv-108, holding that portions of the final rule issued...more
This summer I wrote about the dangers of English-only policies in this age of multiculturalism. These policies tend to emerge more frequently in the healthcare workplace, the reason being – the provision of quality care is...more
In May 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”) issued a Final Rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Section 1557 prohibits “covered...more
Employers in the health care industry are likely to face significant changes under President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration and should expect a healthy dose of uncertainty for the next few months. During his campaign,...more