On October 29, 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a proposed rule to implement US President Joe Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 14117. This order aims to prevent countries of concern from accessing Americans’ sensitive personal data and US-government-related data. The proposal specifically includes health data as a category of sensitive personal data that could be exploited. Health insurers, service providers to health plans, and healthcare providers should review this proposed rule closely.
The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Justice recently published new proposed rules that update and create various requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. What are some of the biggest changes?
During speeches on March 2 and 3, 2023, at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. and other US government officials announced significant changes to the US Department of Justice’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs and continued to emphasize the importance of effective and robust compliance policies. These changes come on the heels of DOJ’s recent announcement of a single corporate voluntary self-disclosure policy for every US Attorneys’ Office nationwide, and are simply the latest evidence of the Biden Justice Department’s substantial focus on corporate criminal enforcement.
The board’s executive compensation committee is the focus point for many of the extraordinary financial, economic and operating challenges currently facing healthcare organizations. Executive compensation increases are impacted by both an inflationary economy and significant revenue downturn. In addition, the US Department of Justice has identified executive compensation as an important conduit through by which corporate compliance incentives and deterrence can be implemented. Furthermore, executive recruitment and retention amidst the “Great Resignation” remains a key compensation concern.
These and similar issues have become important agenda items for the board’s executive compensation Committee. Michael Peregrine is joined by industry experts Tim Cotter and Ralph DeJong for the first in a two-part conversation about the impact of the developments on the compensation committee, including:
Key topics for briefing the board’s compensation committee.
Increasing communication between the compensation committee and the C-Suite.
Addressing pressures felt by executive committee members.
Insights from the Sullivan Cotter compensation data survey.
Projections for the impact of inflation on next year’s salary increases.
Expectations for future CEO salary increases and organization departures.
The segmenting approach to leadership plans.
Coordination with the Audit & Compliance Committee on compensation incentives
As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare fraud enforcement remains a top priority for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other government agencies with enforcement authority. In this Westlaw Today article, McDermott Partners Laura McLane, Tony Maida and Dana M. McSherry describe some of the areas that have assumed particularly high enforcement priority, including private equity, telehealth and pandemic relief funds.
What are some recent trends in employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) litigation? In these slides, McDermott’s Ted Becker and Allison Egan offer insight into what plan fiduciaries need to know.
Throughout US President Joe Biden’s first year in office, the Biden administration reversed numerous Trump-era policies, including those concerning the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, federal contractors, wage data and LGBTQ bias. In this Law360 article, McDermott Partner Rachel Cowen offers insight into how the friction between religious and LGBTQ rights will continue to play out throughout employment law.
Class action litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is on the rise—particularly in California—after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2017 decision applying a hypertechnical approach to the FCRA’s disclosure requirements. Background checks are an integral part of the hiring process, but they open employers up to lawsuits for noncompliance with disclosure or adverse action requirements. Plaintiffs’ firms are turning their attention to these cases because of the potential for statutory and actual damages, punitive damages, costs and attorneys’ fees. In our recent webinars, we discussed strategies to help employers avoid and defend these claims.
On June 12, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the 2020 Final Rule) that rescinds certain protections afforded to LGBTQ individuals and persons with limited English proficiency. At the same time, the 2020 Final Rule removes burdensome disclosure requirements that may be a welcome relief for entities covered by Section 1557. On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that workplace discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation is forbidden under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although Title VII is not included in the precedential civil rights laws that gave rise to Section 1557, we nevertheless anticipate that the Supreme Court’s holding will lead to legal challenges in a number of areas, including healthcare and health insurance, religious exemptions and the 2020 Final Rule from HHS OCR.
Digital health companies face a complicated regulatory landscape. While the opportunities for innovation and dynamic partnerships are abundant, so are the potential compliance pitfalls. In 2018 and in 2019, several digital health companies faced intense scrutiny—not only from regulatory agencies, but also in some cases from their own investors. While the regulatory framework for digital technology in healthcare and life sciences will continue to evolve, digital health enterprises can take key steps now to mitigate risk, ensure compliance and position themselves for success. We offer three tips for tackling risk in digital health.