Below is this week’s “Capitol Hill Healthcare Update,” which is posted on Mondays when Congress is in session. Note that because Congress will be in recess for the Memorial Day holiday, the next “Capitol Hill Healthcare Update” will be posted on June 3. LAWMAKERS QUESTION DEMOCRATS’ STRATEGY ON DRUG PRICING House Democrats last week combined bipartisan bills designed to lower drug prices with controversial legislation related to the Affordable Care Act, prompting Democratic…

Here is this week’s “Capitol Hill Healthcare Update,” which is posted on Mondays when Congress is in session HOUSE TO VOTE ON BILL COMBINING ACA, DRUG PRICING PROVISIONS The House is scheduled to vote on legislation Thursday that would package new funding for state-based marketplaces and enrollment outreach efforts under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with provisions designed to lower prescription drug prices. Some of the drug pricing provisions enjoyed bipartisan support when…

Here is this week’s “Capitol Hill Healthcare Update,” which is posted on Mondays when Congress is in session. DRUG PRICES: CONGRESS RETURNS, PICKS UP WHERE LAWMAKERS LEFT OFF Congress reconvenes today after a two-week spring recess, with lawmakers in both parties continuing their focus on prescription drug prices. House and Senate committees are planning a series of hearings and votes on drug pricing legislation, beginning Tuesday and going through at least June. The…

On Feb. 11, 2019, two Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), released their long-awaited proposed rules designed to further HHS’ goal of promoting electronic health information interoperability and implementing many of the provisions mandated under the 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act). Notably, these proposed rules were released shortly before the HHS Office…

On March 6, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Linda Sue Kalina pled guilty to wrongfully disclosing the protected health information (PHI) of another individual in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Kalina was a patient information coordinator with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and its affiliate, Tri Rivers Musculoskeletal Centers (TRMC). From March 7, 2016, through June 23, 2017, Kalina improperly accessed the…

Recently, in Dantry v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, No. 1665 C.D. 2017 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2019), the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board) which  had affirmed the Unemployment Compensation Referee’s decision that Jami M. Dantry (Dantry) was ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits because Dantry’ s conduct rose to the level of willful misconduct based on a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of…

Senate Democrats recently introduced the Stop Price Gouging Act (S. 378), which seeks to place an excise tax on pharmaceutical companies in proportion to price spikes on prescription drugs. The bill generally requires a company to justify to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) any spike in prescription drug prices, but it is short on details regarding the criteria the inspector general of DHHS would have to abide by when analyzing the spike.…