August 20, 2021
Under Colorado law, the statute of limitations applicable to a minor’s cause of action for medical negligence does not begin to run until the minor reaches the age of eighteen, unless the minor has a court-appointed legal representative.1 An injury to a minor child essentially generates two separate causes of action: one for the pre-majority medical expenses; and one for post-majority medical…
August 17, 2021
As detailed in an earlier blog post, Congress enacted the No Surprises Act (“Act”) to protect patients against “surprise bills.” A surprise bill occurs when a patient receives health care services from an out-of-network provider. It can occur in both emergency and non-emergency situations, although frequently it occurs during emergency situations when a patient does not choose the facility or…
August 6, 2021
The 2021 Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 312 (HB 312), which makes some important changes to Kentucky’s Open Records Act which became effective June 29, 2021.
Under the amended act, open records requests may now only be made by a “resident of the commonwealth.” Previously, any “person” could request inspection of records from…
August 4, 2021
On August 2, 2021, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment released an order requiring personnel of certain types of entities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 30, 2021. Those types of entities and their personnel bound to the order are:
July 9, 2021
This article was originally published in Jackson Kelly’s Workplace Safety and Health News Alert on June 21, 2021. This guidance is pertinent to health care providers and relates to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements in various workplaces. Comments to the OSHA guidance issued on June 17, 2021 must be submitted by August 20, 2021.
On May 16, 2021, the Centers…
June 30, 2021
The West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 714 (“SB 714”) on April 9, 2021. The Governor signed the bill on April 21, 2021, and it will become effective on July 8th, 2021. SB 714 amends certain provisions relating to the Physician Assistants Practice Act.1 The key amendments are summarized below:
June 9, 2021
House Bill 21-1232 or the “public option bill” is before the Colorado legislature for the second time and the numerous rounds of rewrites have changed the character of the bill itself. Initially proposed as a public health insurance plan offered by the state, the bill now seeks to mandate a standardized health insurance plan that is operated by private insurers. If approved, the public option…
May 13, 2021
On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will interpret and enforce Section 1557 and Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination based on sex to include both (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and (2) discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
OCR is responsible for enforcing Section 1557 of the…
April 29, 2021
The West Virginia Legislature recently passed the “COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act,” which is intended to provide immunity to health care providers and health care facilities (among other persons and entities) from claims arising from incidents relating to COVID-19. W. Va. Code 55-19-1 et seq. The new statute went into effect on March 11, 2021 and provides that, “[n]otwithstanding any law to the…
April 21, 2021
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) issued a statement on April 9, 2021 regarding 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (commonly referred to as “Part 2”). In its statement, SAMSHA asserted that it intends to publish amendments to the Part 2 regulations later this year, and affirmed that the current Part 2 regulations (including the…
March 22, 2021
Typically, when a person is seeking medical care, he or she will select a provider who is in-network. This is because a provider will discount its list prices (or charges) in order to be included in an insurance plan’s network.1 Hence, a patient will often seek in-network providers because of this lower negotiated rate.2 But in practice, a patient does not always have this…
March 2, 2021
Many of you are aware of “I’m sorry” laws that have been passed in many states which allow doctors and other healthcare providers to express sympathy and regret about an adverse event without it being used against them in a later civil suit. These laws are intended to provide freedom for the practitioner to communicate with a patient on a personal basis without worry over legal consequences of…
August 20, 2021
Under Colorado law, the statute of limitations applicable to a minor’s cause of action for medical negligence does not begin to run until the minor reaches the age of eighteen, unless the minor has a court-appointed legal representative.1 An injury to a minor child essentially generates two separate causes of action: one for the pre-majority medical expenses; and one for post-majority medical…
August 17, 2021
As detailed in an earlier blog post, Congress enacted the No Surprises Act (“Act”) to protect patients against “surprise bills.” A surprise bill occurs when a patient receives health care services from an out-of-network provider. It can occur in both emergency and non-emergency situations, although frequently it occurs during emergency situations when a patient does not choose the facility or…
August 6, 2021
The 2021 Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 312 (HB 312), which makes some important changes to Kentucky’s Open Records Act which became effective June 29, 2021.
Under the amended act, open records requests may now only be made by a “resident of the commonwealth.” Previously, any “person” could request inspection of records from…
August 4, 2021
On August 2, 2021, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment released an order requiring personnel of certain types of entities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 30, 2021. Those types of entities and their personnel bound to the order are:
July 9, 2021
This article was originally published in Jackson Kelly’s Workplace Safety and Health News Alert on June 21, 2021. This guidance is pertinent to health care providers and relates to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements in various workplaces. Comments to the OSHA guidance issued on June 17, 2021 must be submitted by August 20, 2021.
On May 16, 2021, the Centers…
June 30, 2021
The West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 714 (“SB 714”) on April 9, 2021. The Governor signed the bill on April 21, 2021, and it will become effective on July 8th, 2021. SB 714 amends certain provisions relating to the Physician Assistants Practice Act.1 The key amendments are summarized below:
June 9, 2021
House Bill 21-1232 or the “public option bill” is before the Colorado legislature for the second time and the numerous rounds of rewrites have changed the character of the bill itself. Initially proposed as a public health insurance plan offered by the state, the bill now seeks to mandate a standardized health insurance plan that is operated by private insurers. If approved, the public option…
May 13, 2021
On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will interpret and enforce Section 1557 and Title IX’s prohibition on discrimination based on sex to include both (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and (2) discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
OCR is responsible for enforcing Section 1557 of the…
April 29, 2021
The West Virginia Legislature recently passed the “COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act,” which is intended to provide immunity to health care providers and health care facilities (among other persons and entities) from claims arising from incidents relating to COVID-19. W. Va. Code 55-19-1 et seq. The new statute went into effect on March 11, 2021 and provides that, “[n]otwithstanding any law to the…
April 21, 2021
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) issued a statement on April 9, 2021 regarding 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (commonly referred to as “Part 2”). In its statement, SAMSHA asserted that it intends to publish amendments to the Part 2 regulations later this year, and affirmed that the current Part 2 regulations (including the…
March 22, 2021
Typically, when a person is seeking medical care, he or she will select a provider who is in-network. This is because a provider will discount its list prices (or charges) in order to be included in an insurance plan’s network.1 Hence, a patient will often seek in-network providers because of this lower negotiated rate.2 But in practice, a patient does not always have this…
March 2, 2021
Many of you are aware of “I’m sorry” laws that have been passed in many states which allow doctors and other healthcare providers to express sympathy and regret about an adverse event without it being used against them in a later civil suit. These laws are intended to provide freedom for the practitioner to communicate with a patient on a personal basis without worry over legal consequences of…
