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
November 3, 2009On 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”). Read the rest of this entry »
NEW CALIFORNIA WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAWS
October 30, 2009California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a few new laws affecting workers’ compensation. Read the rest of this entry »
GOVERNMENT MISSES DEADLINE FOR MENTAL HEALTH PARITY REGULATIONS
October 27, 2009When President Bush signed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) on October 3, 2008, that triggered a requirement for the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue regulations no later than October 3, 2009. Earlier this month, HHS announced that the regulations will be delayed. They said the new goal is to issue regulations by January 2010. In the absence of regulations, plan sponsors will have to make reasonable good faith efforts to comply with MHPAEA. Read the rest of this entry »
Appeals Court Rules on Definition of “Medical Examination”
October 18, 2009Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers can only require employees to undergo medical exams if the exam is job-related and necessary. The Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit ruled a physical capacity evaluation (PCE—also known as a functional capacity evaluation) to be a medical exam, thereby possibly violating the ADA. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by johngarner
Posted by johngarner
Posted by johngarner