Senate Democratic Leadership Unveils Health Reform Bill. What Happens Next?

On November 18, 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the Senate Democratic leadership’s version of a comprehensive health reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). This legislation is the product of weeks of work by the Senate leadership to combine the health care reform bills passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee in July, and the by the Senate Finance Committee in October into one bill for consideration on the Senate floor. 

Employers Respond to GINA Ban on HRAs

A coalition of employer organizations believe the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA) threatens to ban the use of most health risk assessments (HRAs) in wellness programs. If you share their concerns, you can act by November 30 or as soon as possible after that to submit comments about GINA’s interim final regulations.

HOUSE PASSES HEALTH CARE REFORM

Late in the night on November 7, 2009, the House of Representatives passed its version of health care reform.  If the Senate can pass health care reform legislation, it will be up to a conference committee to work out differences between the two versions.

HHS EXPANDS HIPAA PENALTIES UNDER THE HITECH ACT

On October 30 the Department of Health and Human Services published an interim final rule to conform HIPAA’s enforcement regulations to the new statutory revisions required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the HITECH Act), which was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, commonly known as the “Stimulus Package”).

NEW CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWS

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a few new laws affecting workers’ compensation.

MILITARY FAMILY LEAVE EXPANDED

On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed H.R. 2647 (the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act) into law.  This new law includes two expansions of the recently-enacted exigency and caregiver leave provisions for military families under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).