INSIDE COMPLIANCE – Page 97 – Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Insurance Plans and Opioids: Releasing and Raising the Barriers to Prescribe

April 28, 2017Uncategorized

With the opioid addiction epidemic continuing to rise in the United States, several insurance companies loosened the existing barriers to addiction treatment. Aetna Insurance Company joined Cigna and Anthem in removing key provisions in its insurance plans that require additional authorization prior to providing addiction treatment. At the same time, Cigna proposed to strengthen barriers to physician prescribing of opioids in an attempt to further address the opioid epidemic.

AetnaAnthemCignaHealth Insuranceopioid epidemicpublic health

Bose Accused of Blasting Consumer Listening Habits to Third Parties

April 27, 2017Uncategorized

Global music technology giant and headphone maker, Bose Corporation, has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging that Bose collected the listening preferences of the users of its wireless headphones and its companion application without their knowledge and sold that information to third parties. Counsel representing the class filed the complaint in federal court in Chicago, Illinois alleging violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”) and the Illinois-specific Eavesdropping Statute.

class actioneavesdropping lawsECPAElectronic Communications Privacy ActPrivacy & Security

The NCAA and Title IX

April 25, 2017Athletic Regulation

The NCAA has focused on gender equality in intercollegiate athletics by complying with federal and state laws and establishing an inclusive environment free of gender bias. This article outlines some of the challenges colleges face in maintaining compliance with these laws.

BasketballGenderNCAATitle IX

Mr. Trump’s Swing at Financial Regulation

April 19, 2017Finance & Banking

During his first 67 days in office, Mr. Trump signed 19 executive orders. One such action designed to roll back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act (“Act”) received little to no media attention but may have long lasting ramifications in the financial industry.

dodd-frank actdonald trumpexecutive orderfinancefinancial regulationpolitics

Compliance in the Garment Industry: A Closer Look Into Bangladesh’s Factories

April 15, 2017The Marketplace

Compliance with labor laws is a major component of effectively and efficiently conducting business in the garment industry. Although there are a variety of areas, such as wage and hour compliance and disability compliance, human rights compliance issues are becoming increasingly prominent in recent times—especially in Bangladesh. The garment industry in Bangladesh came under international scrutiny in 2013 after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, ultimately killing over 1,100 workers. This incident is considered to be one of the worst industrial disasters to ever occur and exposed many serious hazards that were occurring in Bangladeshi factories. Subsequently, some of the largest brands shifted to implement better conditions for workers.

Bangladeshclothing industryinternationalinternational compliancelabor

DOJ Joins Whistleblower Suit Against UnitedHealth Group

April 11, 2017Fraud & Abuse

The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently intervened in a qui tam action against UnitedHealth Group (“United”) and its subsidiary, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement, the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage (“MA”) Plans. The suit alleges that United engaged in an “up-coding” scheme to receive higher payments than they should have under MA’s risk adjustment program. Assuming these allegations of United’s false claims are true, then United billed and received hundreds of millions of dollars in improper payments from Medicare.

DOJfalse claims actFCAmedicareUnitedHealthcareupcodingwhistleblower

Golden State Warriors Run Afoul to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act

April 3, 2017Athletic Regulation

The 2016 National Basketball Association Champions, the Golden State Warriors, have been accused of wiretapping and listening in to fans’ conversations without consent or knowledge in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”), also referred to as the Wiretap Act. A new amended complaint alleges the warriors recorded fans’ oral dialogue via a phone application typically used to keep fans up-to-date on team scores, schedules, news, and statistics.

ECPAGolden State WarriorsNBAPrivacy & SecurityWiretap Act

HIPAA Punctuality: Always Insist On It In Your Subordinates

March 31, 2017HIPAA & Health Information

In an unprecedented act, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) entered into a settlement agreement with Presence Health Network based on the healthcare system’s failure to timely report a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI). Under the Breach Notification Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) a covered entity must notify affected individuals, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the media for breaches affecting 500 people or more. Presence Health will pay $475,000 and implement a corrective action plan (CAP) to address misunderstandings in workforce member roles and responsibilities relating to the notification process.

breachcorrective action planHHSPresence Health

OCR Audits Subject To Phishing Hack

March 31, 2017HIPAA & Health Information

Christine Bulgozdi Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018 Back in November, the Department of Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released an alert stating that a phishing scam masquerading as an OCR Audit had been spotted being sent out to Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) covered …
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hackingHHSHIPAA auditsOCRphisingPrivacy & Security

State Legislature Proposes New Bill to Ensure Athlete Safety

March 24, 2017Athletic Regulation

Meghan Murphy Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018 In January 2017, Connecticut joined the list of states seeking to implement new safety protections for their student-athletes by proposing a new bill, No. 6870, establishing an athletic protection commission. While the law might be appealing on paper, both the NCAA and …
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ConnecticutEducationNCAAstudent athletesstudents