On April 13, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a press release warning the public about several emerging health care fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The press release warns that, “[B]ad actors are selling fake COVID-19 test kits and unapproved treatments through telemarketing calls, social media platforms, and
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 11, the IRS, DOL and HHS issued a series of FAQs clarifying the scope of the FFCRA/CARES Act mandates relating to COVID-19 testing for group health plans and health insurance issuers. This post highlights the key takeaways from those FAQs.
As highlighted in our earlier blog post, it was only
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 27, 2020, the House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead in voting overwhelmingly to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The President signed the legislation into law shortly thereafter. This blog post highlights the health and welfare benefit provisions contained in the law. Click here to review
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 19, Senator McConnell introduced the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While the Act largely focuses on economic relief for businesses and individuals, it did contain certain provision impacting benefit plans (for more on the potential impact for retirement plans, click here). Notably, the CARES Act replicates and
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted 90-8 to approve HR 6201 without changes. The law generally takes effect no later than 15 days after HR 6201 is signed (expected soon) and would sunset on December 31, 2020.
In somewhat of a surprise move, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to adopt HR 6201 (described here
Seyfarth Synopsis: Late Monday night, the House passed a technical corrections package to HR 6201. While most of the changes related to the Bill’s paid sick leave, unemployment insurance and tax credits provisions (click here for a summary of those changes), there was one small change to the health insurance section: The package clarified that
Seyfarth Synopsis: Late Friday evening, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill (HR 6201) targeted to provide relief for individuals impacted by the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The bill addresses paid sick leave and the expansion of FMLA. This post, however, is aimed at the provisions applicable to employers’ medical
Seyfarth Synopsis: One of many COVID-19 benefits-related concerns focused on the ability of individuals covered under High Deductible Health Plans to have services to diagnose or treat the coronavirus covered before their deductible is met. The IRS has listened to the concerns and just issued guidance in response.
As aficionados of the benefits space know,
Seyfarth Synopsis: Because everything has a coronavirus angle now….this blog post covers various issues and considerations plan sponsors and administrators should keep in mind as the coronavirus outbreak continues to escalate.
While this list is by no means exclusive (and may be added to over time), here are a few steps plan sponsors can take
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Director of HIPAA enforcement agency cautions that many covered entities are not meeting the basic HIPAA requirements and sees “low-hanging fruit” for enforcement activity.
The Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, Roger Severino, recently gave an interview to Law360 about his office’s enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability