The Meaningful Use Workgroup of the Health IT Policy Committee recently released draft recommendations for Stage 3 objectives for the Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program. These recommendations can be found here.
February 2014
Call for expression of interest to participate in early dialogue between HTA bodies and healthcare product developers
A call for expression of interest addressed to healthcare product developers who would be interested in engaging in early dialogues (EDs) with Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies was launched in December 2013 and will stay open until October 2014. The call concerns developers of both medicinal products and medical devices.
The European Commission defines HTA…
Connecticut Pay-to-Play Law Does Not Bar Giving to a State Party’s Federal Account
Connecticut’s campaign finance regulator, the State Elections Enforcement Commission (“SEEC”) recently released an important advisory opinion that made clear that a state contractor that is otherwise barred from giving to a state political party under Connecticut’s pay-to-play law can give to the party’s federal account, a point SEEC staff had previously addressed. However, the…
Top Ten Things to Know about the Final Shared Responsibility Regulations
The final shared responsibility regulations under the Affordable Care Act, issued earlier this month, in large part maintain the rules set forth in the proposed regulations. However, there are several ways in which the final regulations modify or clarify these rules. Below is a top ten list (which we’re sure David Letterman would use if…
Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act Introduced By Senate Democrats
Last Wednesday, Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act, which primarily would require greater transparency from data brokers about consumer information they collect and sell. At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing held on the data broker industry in December, Rockefeller expressed concern that…
Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of “Shine the Light” Suits
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed lower-court dismissals of two lawsuits under California’s “Shine the Light” law. Shine the Light (or “STL”) requires businesses that disclose customers’ personal information to third parties for those parties’ direct marketing purposes to respond to customer requests for information about such disclosures. The…
The CJEU’s Nintendo v. PC Box: ‘Proportionate’ DRMs?
By Alain Strowel, Michael Clancy and Hee-Eun Kim
On January 23, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on the legality of anti-circumvention measures or DRMs for video games (Case C-355/12 Nintendo v. PC Box).[1] Here are the links to the full text of the judgment and the non-binding Advocate General’s…
WEDI Issues Guidance for Assessment of Potential Breaches under HIPAA
Recently, the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) published a Breach Risk Assessment Issue Brief for stakeholders to use in analyzing whether a breach of protected health information (PHI) has occurred under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Background
Under HIPAA’s breach notification rule, covered entities and business associates are required to notify…
UK Adopts Mandatory Lobbyist Registry
On January 30, 2014, the UK Parliament adopted the “Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014.” Covington today issued a client advisory explaining the new law, which imposes mandatory registration and disclosure requirements on certain organizations that lobby in the UK. Significantly, however, unlike in the United States, the new UK…
Senate Democrats Introduce Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2014
In the wake of the high profile retailer data breaches involving Target and Neiman Marcus, among others, Capitol Hill is re-engaging on data security breach legislation. Among other activity in Congress, Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), and Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) recently introduced the Data Security and…