The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, settled with a healthcare system for its untimely reporting of a breach of its unsecured, private health information. Presence Health has agreed to pay $475,000 and implement a corrective action plan.
Take a listen as they discuss the Founding Fathers’ own debate over healthcare, more than 200 years ago. One group of men burned down the brand-new hospital of the day to protest their lack of access to healthcare as smallpox raged through their communities. It even makes today’s political feud seem tame.
A rule premised upon the patient’s ability to self-diagnose prior to visiting the ER is a highly implausible and cruelly transparent cost-saving measure that will be paid with human lives.
Under existing law. Vermont Medicaid and commercial insurers were required to cover telemedicine services if the patient was located at a healthcare facility when receiving the services. The new law changes this, requiring all Vermont insurers to cover telemedicine services if (1) the services would be covered if rendered through an in-person visit, and (2) the patient is located at an originating site.
As Republicans work to make good on their campaign promises to repeal the ACA, coverage for those with preexisting conditions hangs in the balance. If the GOP can successfully repeal the insurance protections extended by the ACA to those with preexisting conditions, about 130 million Americans may see their healthcare costs rise.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a HIPAA settlement after MAPFRE Life Insurance Company of Puerto Rico disclosed unsecured electronic protected health information (ePHI).
HIPAA already contains such exceptions, so Christie’s suggestions are more political posturing than advocating for change.As needed to treat a patient, providers may disclose protected health information without the patient’s permission.
Children’s Medical Center had failed to implement procedures that were compliant with HIPAA. It did not implement risk management plans, nor did it use encryption on all of its laptops, workstations, mobile devices, or removable media storage.
Recently, I asked a private practice LCSW whether she had HIPAA procedures in place. Her response? “I am my HIPAA procedure!” If only it were that simple.
The lawsuit asserts that “[t]he brunt of the [opioid] epidemic could have been, and should have been, prevented by the defendant companies acting within the U.S. drug distribution industry, which are some of the largest corporations in America. These drug wholesalers and retailers have profited greatly by allowing the Cherokee Nation to become flooded with prescription opioids.”
