The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre issued a joint alert on Tuesday that advanced persistent threat groups “are actively targeting organizations involved in both national and international COVID-19
HIPAA
COVID-19 Update: Senate Unanimously Passes Emergency Stimulus Package
The United States Senate has passed a $2 trillion phase three emergency package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The Senate approved the CARES Act on a unanimous vote of 96-0, with three Senators in self-quarantine…
Republican Study Committee Releases Affordable Care Act Replacement plan
The Republican Party will soon be the party of health care. You watch.
-President Donald J. Trump, March 23, 2019
Opening with the above quote from President Trump, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released the first part of its healthcare…
Anthem to pay US$115M to settle lawsuit relating to 2015 data breach
Anthem Inc. has agreed to a US$115 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit relating to a 2015 cyberattack that compromised data on 79 million individuals. Anthem has denied any wrongdoing.
In February of 2015, Anthem reported that hackers…
OCR proposes to share HIPAA data breach settlements with victims
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) plans to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking this November on potentially sharing HIPAA breach settlements with victims. The notice would solicit public opinion on…
NIST releases latest version of its Cybersecurity Framework
On April 16, 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) unveiled Version 1.1 of its widely known Cybersecurity Framework, which incorporates changes based on feedback collected through comments, questions, and workshops held in 2016 and 2017. The…
Healthcare-related exception in FCC TCPA order upheld
On March 16, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its decision on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) omnibus order of 2015, relating to challenges to the FCC’s determination on healthcare calls and three…
Uber as a HIPAA business associate
Uber recently announced the launch of Uber Health, a non-emergency ride service that allows healthcare providers to schedule and pay for transportation for their patients. The stated purpose of the service is to expand medical transportation to traditionally underserved…
Amended Colorado bill aims to enhance data privacy laws
As Health Law Pulse posted on January 29, 2018, lawmakers in Colorado are considering legislation that, if enacted, would significantly strengthen Colorado’s data privacy protections. On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, an amended bill passed unanimously in Colorado’s House Committee…
Connecticut case finds health care privacy cause of action
On January 16, 2018, the Connecticut Supreme Court unilaterally created a new state law cause of action for violation of a patient’s health care privacy. (Byrne v. Avery Center for Obstetrics & Gynecology, P.C., 327 Conn. 540, __…