The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently issued new guidance on its HIPAA FAQs webpage regarding permissible use and disclosures of protected health information (PHI) by health plans for purposes of care coordination and continuity of care. Health plans are covered entities under HIPAA.

The guidance explains that,

With the political battle over the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) dragging on in Washington, a number of states have recently taken steps to protect their residents from potential instability in the health insurance market. New Jersey is setting up its own state health insurance exchange to replace the federally run healthcare.gov marketplace,

A new federal regulation that would have required companies to disclose wholesale prices of prescription drugs in television advertisements was rejected by a federal court on July 8, one day before the rule would have taken effect. Amgen Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Merck & Co. Inc. had filed suit challenging the rule, claiming

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expects to release proposed revisions to the federal physician self-referral prohibition (Stark Law) before Labor Day, according to Kim Brandt, CMS’s principal deputy administrator for operations. Brandt was speaking at an industry conference. Potential Stark Law changes were recently discussed here.

CMS had requested input from the

New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced on June 13 that her office had sent cease-and-desist letters to 44 pharmacies that violated the law requiring them to maintain drug retail price lists. State law requires each pharmacy to maintain a list of prices for the 150 most commonly prescribed drugs, update the list at

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Consumer Update regarding cannabidiol (CBD) on June 14. Observing that CBD “seems to be available almost everywhere,” the FDA noted that the science, safety, and quality of CBD-containing products are unproven and said that it is working to learn more about the safety of CBD.

Unapproved

Three of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. filed suit on June 14 against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming that HHS doesn’t have the power to compel companies to include list prices of prescription drugs in television advertisements. HHS’s new rule is set to take effect on July 9.

On June 6, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding its Patients over Paperwork Initiative. CMS is seeking public input on ways to reduce administrative and regulatory burdens on healthcare providers, with an overall goal of reducing healthcare costs and increasing the time providers spend with their

More than 40 physicians, clinicians and researchers from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and other institutions issued a 16-page Statement of Concern to Massachusetts lawmakers requesting that the Commonwealth’s Cannabis Control Commission suspend processing new business licenses and conduct a public health assessment of its “Social Equity Program.” These practitioners are criticizing the inadequacy

In a 7-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 3 that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may not adjust the rates it pays hospitals for serving low-income patients without first giving them an opportunity to comment on the changes. The Medicare Act requires public notice and a 60-day comment period