Two recent decisions of the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) illustrate that age and disability status cannot be used as blanket criteria for denying access to health care services, even during a pandemic. This should serve as a warning to healthcare providers about the risks in making triage decisions

On April 16, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California charged Dr. Jennings Ryan Staley, a licensed physician and the operator of Skinny Beach Med Spa in San Diego, with mail fraud in connection with his offer to sell “COVID-19 treatment packs” to patients and the general public. Emails sent by

Jim Lagios, Bob Iseman and Stu Gordon wrote an article for Law360 regarding the impact of coronavirus on the financial well-being of hospitals and health systems. To read the article, click on the link below.

Tenn. Hospital Bankruptcy May Be The First Of Many

When the President has declared a national emergency under authorizing legislation, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to grant waivers to certain prohibitions under the Social Security Act, which includes the Stark Law, during a declared public health emergency in order to ensure (i) sufficient health care items

As healthcare providers continue to fight the coronavirus outbreak, many practices are suffering major disruptions due to the cancellation of elective surgeries and office visits, among other things. In an effort to lessen the financial hardships facing these providers, on March 28 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an expansion of its

At a time when medical professionals are overwhelmed by the COVID-19 crisis, Governor Cuomo issued an executive order expanding resources to healthcare workers. The goal is to meet the treatment demands of coronavirus patients, and most significantly, provide health care providers with protection, in most instances, from lawsuits for medical malpractice and other potential liability.

On March 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a much-needed update clarifying what constitutes “essential industry” during the national COVID-19 response.  This updated Guidance is especially important as many of the individual state declarations of emergency refer to “essential industry” without any enumeration, or specifically reference DHS-CISA

Several of the provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, will help people with substance use disorders (SUDs) and the healthcare professionals who care for them. Congress has recognized that people with SUDs are especially vulnerable during the current public health emergency, and economic

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27, made some substantial changes to the confidentiality rules for substance abuse and mental health records to bring them in line with HIPAA confidentiality rules. In addition, references to “substance abuse” have been updated to “substance use disorder.”

1.  Patient

Several of the provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed by the Senate on March 25 relate to laboratory diagnostic testing for the COVID-19 virus.

Within Division A of the CARES Act, titled “Keeping Workers Paid and Employed, Health Care System Enhancements, and Economic Stabilization,” there are four sections