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On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a final rule to support reproductive health care privacy (the “Reproductive Rule”). According to the HHS OCR press release, the Reproductive Rule, “is one of many actions taken by HHS...

It is rare for the Supreme Court to decide cases involving the Constitution’s Takings Clause, and, indeed, not uncommon for the Court to go years without considering the Clause at all; so, when the Court issues two decisions involving the Takings Clause in less than a week, attention must be paid...

Understanding the complex intersection of environmental regulations intended to combat climate change between now and 2050 while responding to the U.S. tech economy’s exponential growth in energy demand will require collaboration between consumers, industry and government, and reliance upon a...

​The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") continues to be actively engaged in investigating and settling alleged HIPAA violations. In advance of Mother's Day, two decisions were announced for HIPAA-covered entities that allegedly did not provide...

On February 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued two reports to Congress as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. The reports are helpful to health care providers (and all...

This checklist highlights certain considerations for companies preparing to file annual reports on Form 10-K for the calendar year ended 2023 and is intended to serve as a focused resource highlighting changes in disclosure requirements and points of emphasis for the Securities and Exchange...

On February 16, 2024, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a final version of the cybersecurity resource guide (the “Guide”) with respect to the HIPAA Security Rule. As noted in the Guide’s abstract, “This publication provides...

On February 6, 2024, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a settlement with Montefiore Medical Center (“MMC”) for alleged HIPAA Security Rule violations and MMC agreed to pay $4.75 million and enter into a two-year corrective action plan (“CAP”) with OCR. MMC admitted no wrongdoing...

On Tuesday, January 2, 2024, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) announced its proposal to amend the Ground Water Quality Standards (“GWQS”) under N.J.A.C. 7:9C to change the ground water quality criteria for 65 constituents of Class II-A ground water. NJDEP is also...

In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $480,000 settlement with a Louisiana medical group following a phishing incident. In 2021, the medical group filed a breach report with HHS stating that a hacker – through a...

On November 20, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced an $80,000 HIPAA settlement with Saint Joseph’s Medical Center (“SJMC”) in New York State. The settlement was the result of OCR’s investigation of SJMC after the Associated Press...

On November 7, 2023, the City Council of Chicago approved a referendum that will put Chicago’s ‘mansion tax’ on the 2024 primary ballot on March 19, 2024. If passed, the measure would change the amount of real estate transfer taxes the City of Chicago imposes on commercial and residential properties...

On Halloween, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with Doctors’ Management Services (DMS), a Massachusetts medical management company that provides...

On October 13, 2023 in Philadelphia, President Biden and Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) Granholm announced the seven regional hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs) selected for negotiation with DOE for $7 billion in funding. What You Need to Know: President Biden announced the selection of seven...

​This issue of Saul on ESG: Trends & Updates marks our first update tracking the legal trends and developments around environmental, social and governance (ESG). In recent years, we have been tracking and highlighting changes on the ESG front, but this regular publication will allow us to dive...

The deal reached between the President and House Speaker McCarthy on the debt limit bill includes provisions approving a natural gas pipeline project (Mountain Valley Pipeline) and eliminating any judicial review of its existing and future permits, and also includes some limited reform of the...

​Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced two (2) different settlements, one with a HIPAA business associate for $350,000 and one with a HIPAA-covered entity pursuant to the OCR Right of Access Initiative for $15,000...

On March 7, 2023 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (the “HUD”) Secretary, Marcia L. Fudge, issued a public memorandum (the “Memo”) expressing concern over a lack of transparency in fees charged to residential tenants. The Memo calls on housing providers and state and local...

On February 28, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a Request for Information (“RFI”) seeking public comment on background screening issues affecting rental housing applicants and tenants in the United States. The 10-page RFI, which the...