Health and Welfare Plans Archives | Page 36 of 132

Premium Surcharges for the Unvaccinated Are Lawful Within Limits

by McDermott Will & Schulte | Oct 14, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Many plan administrators expressed bewilderment at the Biden administration’s recent guidance to limit vaccine incentive or surcharge programs for unvaccinated plan participants. According to this SHRM article, which features insight from McDermott Partner Judith Wethall, any premium surcharges must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPPA) nondiscrimination rules. HIPPA nondiscrimination rules allow for participatory and health-contingent permissible wellness programs.

Read more here.

FTC Issues Policy Statement Expanding Interpretation of Health Breach Notification Rule’s Scope

by Carolyn Metnick, Edward G. Zacharias and Sam Siegfried | Oct 13, 2021 | Digital Health, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security

On September 15, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3–2 along party lines (with Republican commissioners dissenting) to issue a policy statement announcing an expansive interpretation of the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule, 16 CFR Part 318 (the Rule). According to the policy statement, the Rule applies to health apps and connected devices that are not subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) but are capable of drawing information from multiple sources—for example, through a combination of consumer inputs and application programming interfaces (APIs).

Read more here.

Vaccine Requirements in the Workplace

by Michelle S. Strowhiro | Oct 6, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

As more and more private and public companies require vaccinations, employees are finding it increasingly difficult to avoid these mandates. In this BBC Radio 5 Live interview, McDermott Partner Michelle Strowhiro noted that US employers have a right to mandate vaccination for any employee that is in an employer’s office.

“As such, if an employee is violating that policy and is coming into an office unvaccinated, an employer can take action and terminate that employee,” Strowhiro said.

Access the audio.

50-State Survey | Rules Governing Telehealth Modalities and Patient-Provider Relationships

by Amanda Enyeart, Dale C. Van Demark, Lisa Schmitz Mazur, Marshall E. Jackson, Jr. and Stacey Callaghan | Sep 29, 2021 | Digital Health, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

Telehealth’s state-by-state regulatory patchwork means that healthcare providers must navigate a variety of regulations that govern which types of care can be provided by virtual means, and even what modalities can be used in different care settings. McDermott’s recent 50-state survey explores the standard and requirements that physicians and nurse practitioners must follow when prescribing non-controlled substances or ordering tests via a telemedicine encounter. Key issues addressed in the survey include:

In what states are asynchronous solutions permitted?
What are state rules governing prescriptions when a physician-patient relationship does not exist prior to the telehealth encounter?
What are state rules on prescribing via audio-visual encounters or audio-only encounters?
Under what state regulations can a questionnaire be sufficient to create a physician-patient or advance practice registered nurse-patient relationship?

Access the survey.

CMS Proposes Heightened Penalties and Additional Requirements Under the Hospital Price Transparency Rule

by Emily J. Cook and Steven J. Schnelle | Sep 28, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

On July 19, 2021, US President Joe Biden’s administration released a proposed rule that would increase penalties for hospitals that do not comply with the Hospital Price Transparency Rule, effective January 1, 2022. According to McDermott’s Emily Jane Cook and Steven J. Schnelle, the proposed rule also provides certain potentially burdensome clarifications and requests comment on further rulemaking activity relating to the Hospital Price Transparency Rule.

Read more here.

Just How Many Employers Will Mandate Vaccines?

by McDermott Will & Schulte | Sep 22, 2021 | Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

An August Willis Towers Watson poll found that 52% of 961 surveyed companies intend to implement at least one vaccine mandate by 2021’s fourth quarter. In a poll in May, 72% of respondents said they had no plans to require vaccines.

To encourage vaccination, some employers—like Delta Air Lines—are introducing or considering company healthcare plan surcharges for unvaccinated employees. However, in this article published via Advisory Board, McDermott Partner Judith Wethall said few employers have actually “pulled the trigger” on such a move.

Access the article.

Protecting the Telehealth Consumer: FTC and State-Based Considerations

by Jiayan Chen | Sep 21, 2021 | Digital Health, Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans, Privacy and Data Security

Telemedicine in the United States is facing an important crossroads. While telehealth services have demonstrated their value as an integral part of care delivery, federal and state waivers instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to expire soon. As lawmakers and agency officials consider updated or expanded digital health rules, regulators are expected to intensify their scrutiny of providers.

In this webinar, McDermott partners Jiayan Chen and Brian J. Boyle explore consumer protections for telehealth consumers, including the following:

Privacy considerations beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, including Federal Trade Commission requirements;
How to prepare for the Health Breach Notification Rule;
The ins and outs of advertising telehealth, including claims, endorsements and social media;
Strategies for engaging with users in the digital environment; and
Increased fraud enforcement.

Access the webinar.

Red Tape, Legal Risk Douse Fervor for Surcharges on Unvaccinated

by McDermott Will & Schulte | Sep 16, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Employment, Health and Welfare Plans

Companies curious about a major airline’s unvaccinated healthcare premium surcharge are discovering that it may be too complex to copy. The airline recently announced that unvaccinated employees enrolled in the company’s health plan would see a $200 monthly surcharge. In this Bloomberg Law article, McDermott Partner Judith Wethall said the compliance hurdles are “tricky and kind of dilute the message.”

Access the article.

CMS Addresses Virtual Care Expansion in CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposal

by Amanda Enyeart, Marshall E. Jackson, Jr., Lisa Schmitz Mazur and Dale C. Van Demark | Sep 15, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published its annual proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which include several key telehealth and other virtual care-related proposals. The proposals address long-standing restrictions that have historically limited the use of telehealth and virtual care, including geographic and originating site restrictions, and limitations on audio-only care, as well as coverage extensions for some services added during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Read more here.

Leniency on Implementation Timetables for Surprise Billing and Insurer Price Transparency

by Kate McDonald | Sep 14, 2021 | Employee Benefits, Health and Welfare Plans

The Biden administration is giving insurers more time to follow the insurer price transparency rule and the ban on surprise billing. Federal regulators will delay enforcement of machine-readable file provider rates until July 1, rather than the start of 2022. In this article published in Modern Healthcare, McDermott Partner Kate McDonald noted that the initial timeline was “very aggressive.”

Read more here.

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