On January 14, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two rulings on COVID-19 vaccine mandates that immediately impact employers throughout the country. OSHA’s vaccine-or-testing mandate was effectively struck down, while the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ vaccine mandate for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers was upheld.
To read the full text of this Duane Morris Alert, please visit the firm website.
A federal judge in New Orleans blocked the Interim Final Rule with Comment requiring the vaccination of all staff of health care facilities subject to the health and safety standards under the Medicare Conditions of Participation (“CoPs”) issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) earlier this month.
To read the full text of this blog post by Erin M. Duffy and Samantha Dalmass, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
On June 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration submitted for publication in the Federal Register its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), setting forth new mandatory safety requirements designed to protect workers from COVID-19. The much-anticipated ETS is generally applicable only to certain healthcare workplaces and imposes differing obligations with respect to vaccinated and unvaccinated employees in various contexts.
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A recent case decided Feb. 10 has the nursing home industry and plaintiff malpractice attorneys clamoring over whether certain measures taken by nursing homes during the pandemic should be immune from plaintiff negligence lawsuits against nursing homes.
To read the full text of this article by Duane Morris partner Neville M. Bilimoria, which was originally published in Chicago Lawyer, please visit the firm website.
U.S. nursing homes would benefit from a less punitive approach to performance improvement, according to Doctors Without Borders, the international medical humanitarian organization that has been assisting U.S. nursing homes with their response to COVID-19. The organization recently conducted in-person infection prevention and control trainings and provided technical support and wellness sessions to staff and residents in over 50 Michigan nursing homes and adult care facilities, and now is doing the same in Texas.
To read the rest of this post by Duane Morris attorney Susan Kayser, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
The United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) initial temporary regulations that interpreted and implemented the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) permitted employers to elect to exclude healthcare provider employees from eligibility for the COVID-related leave benefits made available under FFCRA. The initial DOL regulations provided a broad definition of healthcare provider, allowing most employees working for a healthcare provider employer to be excluded from FFCRA leave benefits, including Paid Sick Leave (PSL) and Extended Family and Medical Leave (EFMLA). After a federal district court decision struck down parts of the DOL’s prior final rule, the DOL now has issued revised regulations, which became effective on September 16, 2020, and expire along with the FFCRA on December 31, 2020.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorneys Jennifer Long and Nicholas J. Lynn, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
The CARES Act, enacted on March 27, 2020, makes notable changes to federal law governing the disclosure of substance use disorder records. The Act amends 42 U.S.C. 290dd-2, the governing statute of the regulations at 42 C.F.R. Part 2 to better align certain of its confidentiality requirements with HIPAA.
To read the full text of this post by Duane Morris attorney Melissa Sobel Snyder, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
Let’s face it, there has not been much positive news lately surrounding the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”). However, the Office For Civil Rights (“OCR”), the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) that enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy and Security Rules, announced several recent measures to allow health care providers avoid certain HIPAA penalties and sanctions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are several measures OCR/HHS has taken to lessen the regulatory burden of HIPAA for health care providers amidst COVID-19.
To read this full blog post by Duane Morris partner Neville Bilimoria, please visit the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
