The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced several recent enforcement actions and settlements for violations of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules. Ambulance Company Pays $65,000 to Settle Allegations of Long-Standing HIPAA Noncompliance On Dec. 30, 2019, West Georgia Ambulance, Inc ...
While many countries have introduced far-reaching obligations to report cyber incidents, Switzerland has not yet followed this lead. However, on 13 December 2019 the Federal Council adopted a report which considers key issues with regard to the introduction of a general reporting obligation for operators of critical infrastructure. The report also discusses possible implementation models. A decision is expected by the end of 2020 ...
In the modern era, most construction contracts incorporate insurance requirements as a primary means to address the risk of unexpected occurrences that are inherent to the construction industry. Some insurance, like workers’ compensation coverage, may be required by law. Other insurance coverage may be required by a lender or other financing party in order to close on the construction loan for a project ...
Under a new state law that takes effect January 1, 2020, California health care facilities and other entities must report any written allegations that a physician or other healing arts licensee has sexually abused or engaged in sexual misconduct with respect to a patient. Sexual misconduct is defined as "inappropriate contact or communication of a sexual nature." SB 425 (Hill) amends the Business and Professions Code to add a new provision, Section 805.8 ...
On 27 November 2019 the Federal Council adopted a dispatch message to improve the legal framework governing distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in Switzerland. The Federal Council's objective is to increase legal certainty, remove obstacles to DLT-based applications and limit the risk of abuse. Parliament will examine the dispatch message in early 2020. The government's press release is available in English, German, French and Italian ...
Data protection in the United States is about to undergo a major change, and everyone needs to be ready. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), signed into law June 28, 2018, enters into effect Jan. 1, 2020. It creates several new obligations for many United States-based businesses with regard to the collection, treatment, and sale of personal information ...
Starting next year, California residents who don’t have health care coverage could face a state tax penalty. Under the new Minimum Essential Coverage Individual Mandate, California residents who fail to maintain minimum essential coverage for themselves and their dependents could owe a state tax penalty, unless they qualify for an exemption ...
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy (“Board of Pharmacy”) recently issued a notice to all Board of Pharmacy licensees to be on alert for a scam being perpetrated against Ohio health care providers ...
Will the release of its digital currency be China’s next salvo in its bid for world domination?One of the biggest developments in global finance has recently occurred, but not enough people are talking about it. It features technology, money and a battle between global superpowers ...
The fintech boom is changing rapidly both the way we work and how we conduct business. From managing our budgets and payments, to investments, insurance and obtaining loans and finance, fintech is steadily influencing everyday life. In a sector estimated to have attracted in excess of £2 billion in UK investment last year alone, Scotland hosts a thriving fintech community ...
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) becomes effective on January 1, 2020. As the CCPA deadline looms, businesses need to act now to be ready. In this article, we provide an overview of the CCPA, key changes to the final law, and steps businesses can take to be ready for the CCPA ...
On 7 August 2019 the Federal Administrative Court annulled a Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) order that had limited the price increase of a medicinal product on the list of specialities to two years. The product manufacturer had requested a price increase under Article 67(2) of the Healthcare Insurance Ordinance (SR 832.102), having incurred higher costs following the loss of two suppliers ...
Some are just donkeys with a horn.I will remember 2019 as the year when many unicorns were exposed as donkeys in disguise.Invoking the rarity and mystique of the mythical creature, a “unicorn” is the term the financial market coined for companies worth US$1 billion or more. The year opened with high hopes for such companies that sought an initial public offering (IPO) in the following months ...
Hackers delight in targeting U.S. companies during the holiday season triggering a year-end spike in cyber-attacks, with Carbon Black reporting a 57.5 percentincrease in attempted cyber-attacks during past holiday seasons. This year we can expect that threat actors across the globe will remain online throughout the holiday season, looking to capitalize on the distraction of the holidays and the increased internet traffic that comes with online holiday shopping ...
Beginning Dec. 1, 2019, pharmacists licensed by the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) will have new reporting requirements. The Board enacted similar reporting requirements for pharmacy interns, pharmacy technician trainees, and registered and certified pharmacy technicians. These new reporting requirements add to existing compliance considerations and burdens for licensees, registrants, their employers, and owners and operators of retail and institutional pharmacies ...
Under a new proposed rule, certain required disclosures could be provided electronically to all retirement plan participants, including former employees and beneficiaries. On October 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule intended to expand the use of internet technology to furnish ERISA-required disclosures to plan participants, and to reduce printing and mail expenses ...
The dangers of workers developing silicosis amid the fabrication of engineered stone has become a topic heavily discussed in the news and elsewhere recently. Silicosis is a lung disease that develops from the exposure and inhalation of silica particles. On October 2, National Public Radio (“NPR”) aired a story entitled “Workers Are Falling Ill, Even Dying, After Making Kitchen Countertops ...
The era of cryptocurrencies has come: whilst they were initially used as a specific means of payment and as a source of investments other functions are now being explored, such as the possibility of cryptocurrencies being directly contributed to a company in the context of its incorporation ...
This fall, an outbreak of lung illnesses allegedly related to vaping ignited public hysteria and legislative reactions in many states. The vaping and cannabis industries are already paying, and will continue to pay, high reputational and policy costs associated with these events, and the industries should also be aware that the widespread nature of reported injuries could lead to a substantial amount of costly mass tort litigation ...
After sending cryptocurrency enforcement letters in the summer of 2019, the IRS recently issued Revenue Ruling 2019-24 and an accompanying frequently asked questions (FAQs) with additional guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrency. The Revenue Ruling addresses the tax treatment of cryptocurrency "hard forks", where one version of the currency is split from its original ledger and a new version of the currency is created with a new ledger ...
Almost at the same time as the much-noticed and controversially discussed Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (see Update IP No. 12: Agreement on the Reform of the Digital Copyright Law) and barely noticed by the public, another European Directive on copyright law was adopted ...
The Government of Indonesia finally issued Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 on Organization of Electronic Systems and Transactions ("GR 71/2019") on 4 October 2019, gaining momentum as the country sees the rise of ‘Unicorns’ and President Joko Widodo boasting about the country’s digital economy. GR 71/2019 replaces Government Regulation No. 82 of 2012 with the same title and came into force on 10 October 2019. GR 71/2019 has 11 chapters and an extensive scope ...
With the recent proliferation of mass shootings and other deadly incidents, several states have taken on the issue of allowing mental and/or emotional impairments caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to be a compensable workers’ compensation condition for first responders without the requirement of a physical injury. In June 2019, House Bill 80, the budget bill for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, included such a proposal ...
The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), which develops standard insurance policy forms for use by insurers, recently released its first cannabis-related endorsements (Cannabis Endorsements) to the businessowner policy form. This new release provides five cannabis exclusion endorsements; two of the endorsements change property coverage for cannabis, and the other three endorsements change liability coverage for cannabis ...
In the False Claims Act (FCA) case of Feinwachs v. Minnesota Hospital Association, the district court recently upheld relator David Feinwachs’ claim of work-product privilege over emails sent to his work email account. No. 11-cv-0008, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 155027 (D. Minn. Sept. 11, 2019). Feinwachs was formerly general counsel of the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), a trade association of Minnesota hospitals and health care systems ...
