Tag:

Regulation

Compliance Spotlight: Joseph Adamczyk, OCC

Joseph Adamczyk, ’01 is the Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at OCC (Options Clearing Corporation). OCC is the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, and works to promote stability and financial integrity in the marketplace. Mr. Adamczyk holds a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in Business Administration from DePaul University.

Managing Your Health in 2018: Mobile Medical Applications and FDA Regulations

Immediately upon introduction, mobile medical applications became favored by physicians and patients alike because the applications are user friendly and allow the patient to understand their care and participate in more meaningful discussions with their provider about their health. Due to the rapid development of technology and, as a result, a surge of mobile medical applications flooding the market, the Food and Drug Administration has issued three guidances on how they plan to regulate mobile medical applications. In order for mobile medical application manufacturers to remain compliant with the FDA guidances, they must meet the seven categories of requirements that are laid out in Appendix E of FDA’s 2015 guidance and also comply with any further guidance that is released.

How the Biggest Nitrogen Polluter of U.S. Waterways Achieves EPA Compliance

According to an Environmental Integrity Project report, an Illinois pork-processing plant discharged more nitrogen from animal waste into waterways than any other slaughterhouse in the United States. Yet, the facility has complied with the Clean Water Act since December 2015. Animal-processing operations are not only some of the top polluters, but the federal water pollution standards surrounding these operations are lacking.

States Fail At Mental Health

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“the Parity Act”) is a federal civil rights and consumer protection law. The Parity Act prohibits most public and private insurance plans from imposing more restrictive standards on mental health (“MH”) and substance use disorder (“SUD”) benefits than they impose on similar medical/surgical benefits. However, ten years since its passage, states have failed to appropriately enforce the Parity Act.

Proposed Public Charge Intended for Immigrants but will Impose on Health Care

Every time we turn on the news, someone is either talking about immigration reform or health care reform. Health care and immigration are two major areas that President Trump promised to address and is attempting to tackle within his first two years in office. Although most would not consider that these two issues would overlap, in today’s American health care system, Americans need immigrants. Immigrants contribute a great deal to our medical research, make up a large percentage of our health care providers, and subsidize health insurance premiums.

California to Corporations: No More Male-Only Boards

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a historic bill on September 30 that mandates every publicly held corporation whose principal offices are located in California to have a representative number of women on its board of directors. In a letter announcing Senate Bill 826, Governor Brown admits that there are serious legal concerns to the bill and that its potential flaws could “prove fatal to its ultimate implementation” but that it is time to force action regarding the lack of gender diversity on company boards.

Opportunity Zone Program: Opportunity for Investors or Opportunity for Communities?

With the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was passed in 2017, there have been several changes to the tax system. The Opportunity Zone program was a small piece of the tax reform that has recently gained more publicity. The Opportunity Zone program provides tax benefits to real-estate investors. The Trump Administration recently released definitions and rules in a package of proposed regulations.

Stemming the Tide of Medical Information Data Breaches

Protected Health Information is seeing a surge of breaches on the cyber security front due to contractor error. It’s also impacting the most consumers in comparison to other data breaches and, in some cases, has the power to cause chaos in national infrastructure. Advances in technology and compliance measures can stem the tide and protect the most valuable information in consumers lives.

The Madness Surrounding Bitcoin, et. al.

Earlier this year, Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies writ large, occupied many financial headlines as onlookers began to divert their attention to the “unexplained” rise, and subsequent fall in the price of one the more popular (and maiden) cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin. Naturally, because many of the onlookers didn’t realize what Bitcoin was (or is), the media took lead on the story. Earlier this month, Bitcoin began to make its appearance in headlines, once again.