"[HHS] Office for Civil Rights (OCR) developed this guidance to help covered entities understand how they can use remote communication technologies for audio-only telehealth in compliance with the HIPAA Rules, including when OCR's Notification of Enforcement Discretion for Telehealth Remote Communications (Telehealth Notification) is no longer in effect."  MORE >>

"The amendments are effective January 1, 2023, and the two major purposes are to: [1] expand the definition of family members covered ... and [2] include fertility-related losses in the acceptable reasons an employee may use leave ... Adopted in 2016, the Child Bereavement Leave Act required Illinois employers to grant employees 10 work days of unpaid leave annually to grieve the death of a child."  MORE >>

"[E]mployees become eligible for unpaid bereavement leave under the Family Bereavement Leave Act after 12 months of employment and at least 1,250 hours worked within the previous 12-month period....[T]he employer is prohibited from requiring the employee to specifically identify whether the leave pertains to a miscarriage, a failed adoption or any other category of event set forth in the Act, even if the employer requires the employee to provide documentation."  MORE >>

"Bereavement leave added as a new category for benefits ... Leave during the postnatal period will be classified as medical leave ... Waiting period change ... Expiration date for the collective bargaining exemption."  MORE >>

"On June 7, 2022, CMS fined Northside Hospital Atlanta, in Atlanta, Ga., $883,180, and Northside Hospital Cherokee, in Canton, Ga., $214,320. CMS has stated that these fines are due to the hospitals' failure to have a consumer-friendly, searchable list of standard charges posted in a prominent manner that clearly identified the location of the hospital. CMS further noted that the hospitals failed to include all required services in a machine-readable file, and services weren't included in a single file, as required by the Rule."  MORE >>

"The department issued a $750,000 fine for incorrectly applying office visits to some members' deductibles, which impacted more than 6,500 people between 2015 and 2020. The insurer will also pay a $360,000 fine for failing to mail out an explanation of benefits document to more than 363,000 members in 2019."  MORE >>

"Two new Virginia laws will create health insurance options for two groups of businesses that have felt shut out of more affordable coverage. One allows associations to set up a benefits consortium that would help small businesses gain the same buying muscle that large employers have for employee health insurance."  MORE >>