The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has published a Bulletin which officially states that incorporating certain tracking technologies into websites and mobile applications may cause HIPAA violations that could result in breach notification obligations as well as penalties. This includes platforms and services provided by companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google.
On November 17, 2022, the New York Public Health and Health Planning Council (“PHHPC”) held a meeting (“Meeting”) to discuss the adoption of regulations addressing Direct Care Nursing Home Spending and Minimum Staff Requirements. The Department of Health (“Department”) first introduced these regulations on November 17, 2021, after which they were published in the Federal Register with a 60-day comment period that ended January 18, 2022. Due to a COVID related workforce shortage, Governor Kathy Hochul suspended the implementation of the regulations through April 1, 2022 and gave the Department until November 17, 2022 to hold a meeting to vote on the regulations.
In June 2021, the New York State legislature amended the New York Public Health Law, requiring hospitals to:
On April 6th, 2021, the New York legislature announced that it was delaying, for two years, a controversial policy that would require the New York Medicaid program to shift payment of most drugs from Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) to Fee-For-Service (FFS) reimbursement. In New York, claims submitted by providers that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B Program) and paid under FFS are reimbursed at actual acquisition cost, whereas 340B Program claims paid under MMC are based on the Pharmacy’s contract with the MMC plan.
The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently updated its Work Plan to include concerns with: inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRF”), a focus on Fraud Referrals with Medicaid Managed Care Plans, and audits on hospital price transparency. Below is a summary of the updates to the Work Plan.