In June, Connecticut’s governor signed into law Senate Bill 949 which amended the State’s breach notification statute. The requirement that covered businesses must provide one year of identity theft protection services for certain breaches, easily the most popular aspect of the legislation, may have diverted attention from some significant aspects of this new law. Senate Bill … Continue Reading
In the wake of recent, large-scale data breaches, one being the breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) affecting millions of federal employees, a number of bills have been battling their way through Congress to address breach notification and data security requirements at the federal level. There has been an ongoing pattern for years … Continue Reading
The answer to this question may depend on the actions that the insured takes when it applies for coverage and during the period the policy is in force. The demand for cyberinsurance that is intended to cover exposures from data breaches, among other things, has exploded in recent years, reports The Hill. This is due in large part … Continue Reading
During this year, businesses will be hearing a lot about the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) information reporting requirements under Code Sections 6055 and 6056. Information gathering will be critical to successful reporting, and there is one aspect of that information gathering which employers might want to take action on sooner rather than later – collecting Social Security … Continue Reading
The first massive data breach of 2015 hit one of the country’s largest insurance issuers, Anthem, Inc., including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and other related entities (Anthem). The incident reportedly affected over 80 million persons who are or were covered under a policy or program insured or serviced by Anthem. The personal note … Continue Reading
As the vast array of internet-connected devices mushrooms, and technologies permit those devices to communicate with one another, calls for privacy and security can be heard. On the heels of a recent victory in the ongoing LabMD case, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced yesterday “concrete steps” businesses can take to enhance the privacy and … Continue Reading
News reports of security risks, hackings and breaches caused by individuals, terror groups or even countries around the world certainly are important and can be unsettling. But, for many organizations, including healthcare providers and business associates, a significant and perhaps more immediate area of data risk rests with an organization’s workforce members. An organization’s information … Continue Reading
About two years ago, President Obama signed an executive order on the date that he delivered his State of the Union address which directed certain federal agencies to develop voluntary standards for achieving cybersecurity. Preparing for his 2015 State of the Union address, Bloomberg and other news outlets are reporting this morning that President Obama will … Continue Reading
As we reported, state Attorneys General have authority to enforce the privacy and security regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), pursuant to the authority granted under the Health Information Technology for Clinical and Economic Health (HITECH) Act. Shortly after announcing plans to seek legislation requiring stronger protections for personal and financial … Continue Reading
Some have called 2014 the “Year of the Data Breach.” That may be true given the steady stream of large-scale data breaches affecting tens of millions of individuals. We do not know if this time next year commentators will be saying the same thing about 2015, but there are signs pointing to a significant tightening … Continue Reading
As we’ve discussed previously, medical identity information is worth more than ten (10) times that of financial information on the black market. This gives hackers a financial incentive to obtain such information that is maintained not only by medical providers and pharmacies but also by employers who provide medical insurance coverage to their employees. Employers … Continue Reading
According to the New York Times, Bellevue Hospital Center patient Craig Spencer, the first New Yorker to be infected with Ebola, is scheduled to be released today. And while the intense reporting about Ebola has subsided, perhaps indicating a lowering of the perceived threat of Ebola spreading further in the U.S. (although many continue to … Continue Reading
Healthcare providers continue to have challenges with responding to attorney requests for information and subpoenas. We highlighted some of these last year, along with some issues providers should be considering to help meet those challenges. In this case, after the patient advised the provider not to disclose her PHI to her significant other, the provider received a … Continue Reading
A New York Times article earlier this week reported that top officials at the Treasury Department have identified a key area for strengthening data security – third-party service providers. Reuters reported that on Tuesday of this week New York State Department of Financial Services superintendent, Benjamin Lawsky, sent a letter to a number of banks inquiring … Continue Reading
We addressed the dangers of “snooping” into patient records by hospital workers spurred by incidents of Ebola and Enterovirus D-86 in the U.S. Of course, the workplace challenges created by Ebola, Enterovirus D-86 and other contagious diseases and illnesses in the workplace go far beyond snooping, and far beyond healthcare employers. Employers in all industries are facing dilemmas in … Continue Reading
While recent legislation has tended to tighten data breach notification requirements (e.g., Florida and California), Assembly Bill 1755 extended the breach notification deadline from five to 15 days for certain healthcare providers. More specifically, according to AB1755 which becomes effective January 1, 2015, the deadline to provide notification of a breach of medical information for healthcare providers covered by … Continue Reading
On September 25, a four-year old boy from New Jersey died of Enterovirus D-68, reports myfoxphilly.com. Increasingly, there are reports about potential Ebola cases in the U.S. Naturally, the spread of infectious disease raises concern for everyone, particularly for healthcare workers who want to do their jobs, and also protect their families. There are already … Continue Reading
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently released guidance on the application process to obtain a Health Plan Identifier (“HPID”). A HPID is an all-numeric 10-digit identification number that many HIPAA-covered health plans are required to adopt by November 5, 2014. Think of a HPID like an EIN for health plans. HPIDs will … Continue Reading
When many people think about identity theft and data breaches, they tend to think about credit card data and bank accounts. This makes sense given the large-scale breaches in the news lately. However, Reuters reported last week that medical information is “worth 10 times more than [] credit card number[s] on the black market” a trend that … Continue Reading
When the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Windsor, it declared section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to be unconstitutional. For many companies, the decision meant changes to certain of their employee benefit plans, as well as the tax treatment of employee contributions for same sex spouses. However, declaring section 3 of … Continue Reading
I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a great group at the Connecticut Assisted Living Association (CALA) about HIPAA and a range of related practical issues. Many covered entities and business associates, particularly those that are small businesses, continue to work on understanding the privacy and security standards, and how to best apply them in their … Continue Reading
As reported by HealthcareInfoSecurity.com, a former hospital employee is facing criminal charges brought by federal prosecutors in Texas for alleged violations of the privacy and security requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). You may remember that back on June 1, 2005, the Department of Justice issued an opinion supporting the prosecution of individuals … Continue Reading
Since mid-2013, the Department of Health and Human Services has recovered more than $10 million from numerous entities in connection with alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). However, during a recent American Bar Association conference, Jerome B. Meites, a chief regional civil rights counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) … Continue Reading
Developed by Knightscope, the K5 Autonomous Data Machine is a 5 foot tall, 300 pound robotic device designed to be “a safety and security tool for corporations, as well as for schools and neighborhoods,” as reported by the New York Times. While K5 may not yet be ready for prime time, its developers are hoping to lure early adopters … Continue Reading
