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About this Blog
Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer Benefits Blog. We will be posting about current employee benefits and executive compensation topics and issues. We invite you to contact the authors with your thoughts or questions.Blog Contributors
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HHS to Start Randomly Selecting Health Plans for HIPAA Compliance – Are You Ready?
The CMS Division of National Standards, on behalf of HHS, is launching the Compliance Review Program (the “Program”) to ensure compliance among covered entities with HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules for electronic health care transactions. HHS will randomly select health plans … Continue reading
Posted in Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged audit, Breach Notification, CMS, HHS, HIPAA, Privacy, Security
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New Plan Year, New Wellness Program – Some Things to Keep in Mind
As a follow-up to our recent blog Count Down to Open Enrollment – Some Quick Thoughts, below is a little more detail on how seemingly simple wellness program design changes can have significant legal consequences. HIPAA – Employers feeling extra … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged ADA, ADEA, CODE, EEOC, GINA, HIPAA, incentive, surcharge, tobacco, wellness
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2017 HIPAA Enforcement – Appears Not To Be Slowing Down
To state the obvious, there has been some uncertainty regarding how the Trump Administration will affect federal agency enforcement efforts. However, at least, in regard to HIPAA Privacy and Security, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, HIPAA
| Tagged audit, audits, desk audit, ePHI, health reform, HHS, HIPAA, OCR, phase 1, phase 2, phase 3, Severino, Trump
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HIPAA Checkup – How Good Are Your Policies and Procedures?
Although it is not a new requirement, it is important and therefore worth a reminder: HIPAA requires covered entities to establish and implement written policies and procedures that are consistent with its Privacy and Security Rules. As discussed in an … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged audit, e-PHI, HHS audits, HIPAA, PHI, Policies and Procedures
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Five Ways to Survive a Department of Labor (“DOL”) Health and Welfare Plan Investigation
DOL health and welfare plan investigations are on the rise. There are best practices for plans chosen for investigation: 1. Get Employee Benefits Counsel Involved Early. The DOL investigation process generally starts with a letter from DOL requesting a long … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform
| Tagged audit, benefits counsel, closing letter, compliance, disclosures, document request, DOL, findings letter, HIPAA, interview, investigation, investigator, minimum necessary
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EEOC Proposed Regulations May Require Revisions to Your Tobacco Prevention Wellness Program
In our April 21 blog, Wellness Programs: Agencies Issue Helpful Guidance but Look Before You Leap, Nancy Campbell wrote about the release of the much-anticipated EEOC proposed regulations concerning wellness programs. In her blog, Nancy briefly touched upon some of … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged EEOC, HIPAA, tobacco prevention, wellness
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HIPAA “Phase 2” Audits: Are You Ready?
The Civil Rights Office of the Department of Health and Human Services announced a “Phase 2” audit program in the Fall of 2014. That audit program was delayed due to funding issues, but appears to be back on schedule for … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged HIPAA, HIPAA audit, HIPAA training, privacy and security policies
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Wellness Programs: Agencies Issue Helpful Guidance but Look Before You Leap
Recent studies indicate that wellness programs significantly improve the health of workers. If only it were so easy to implement a wellness program . . . As explained in our July 17, 2013 Benefits Update – Final Wellness Rules May … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged ADA, EEOC, HIPAA, wellness, wellness plans, wellness programs
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November 5 Deadline to Obtain HPID Delayed by HHS
On October 31, 2014, HHS announced a delay, “until further notice,” in the enforcement of the regulations pertaining to Health Plan Identifiers (HPIDs) and their use in HIPAA standard electronic transactions. For more information on the HPID requirements, please see … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged health plans, HIPAA, HPID
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HIPAA Business Associates Agreements – Reminder of September 22 Deadline
On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule under HIPAA making substantial changes to the rules for vendors that provide services to HIPAA-covered plans, such as third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers … Continue reading
Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans
| Tagged business associate agreements, Health Care, health plans, HHS, HIPAA, Privacy Rule, Security Rule, welfare plans
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