HIPAA Archives - Word on Benefits

What’s Going On With Health Information and Cybersecurity

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

14 Feb 202421 Feb 2024

Health plan sponsors should take note: Regulators are increasing their focus on the privacy and security of health information. And failure to comply with the latest guidance on these areas could prove costly. In their article “Risks Abound: What’s Going on With […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits HIPAA Insurance Legislative Regulatory

The End of the COVID-19 Emergencies Arrives Early

Amanda Wilke, CEBS

12 Apr 202318 Apr 2023

This blog has been updated with new information from the previous version published on April 12, 2023. President Biden signed H.R. Res. 7 on Monday, April 10, 2023, to end the national emergency (NE) for COVID-19, effective immediately. Although the NE ended […]

Compliance Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Employee Benefits Health Care HIPAA Insurance Regulatory U.S.

It’s Coming—The End of the COVID-19 Emergencies

Amanda Wilke, CEBS

21 Mar 202321 Mar 2023

After nearly three years, the time has finally come. The Biden administration announced that both the COVID-19 national emergency (NE) and the public health emergency (PHE) will end on May 11, 2023. Now it’s time for employers to prepare to unwind the […]

Compliance Employee Benefits Health Care HIPAA Legislative Regulatory U.S.

HIPAA Turns 26: Time to Review New Guidance!

Anne Newhouse, CEBS

17 Aug 202217 Aug 2022

Maybe the 26th anniversary (coming up on August 21, 2022) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) isn’t as noteworthy a milestone year as last year’s 25th, but the act remains in the headlines in 2022. HIPAA, the cornerstone patient […]

Communication Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Health Care HIPAA Insurance U.S.

HIPAA Guidance on Postpandemic Audio-Only Telehealth

Amanda Wilke, CEBS

19 Jul 202219 Jul 2022

On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements as they relate to audio-only telehealth. Telehealth technology is typically thought of as […]

Employee Benefits HIPAA Regulatory

Keeping Compliant With HIPAA Security Regulations

rosep

15 Mar 202215 Mar 2022

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In 2020, OCR received 27,182 HIPAA-related complaints. Of these, some of the most […]

Employee Benefits Health Care HIPAA Human Resources (HR) U.S.

Happy Anniversary, HIPAA

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

09 Aug 202105 Aug 2021

August 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The main goals of the law were improving the portability of health insurance coverage for people who change jobs, preventing health care fraud, assisting […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

DOL Worries About Benefit Plans’ Cybersecurity

Chris Vogel, CEBS

22 Sep 2015

If some of the largest insurance companies in America struggle to keep sensitive data safe from hackers and other thieves, what is the trustee of a 3,000-life health plan supposed to do to protect plan participant information? Wyatt J. Holliday, CEBS, and […]