Compliancy Group will present a free webinar about the terms and conditions of business associate agreements that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose any sleep over.

The 90-minute webinar will be Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. Eastern time

At some point, nearly all HIPAA covered entities and business associates must enter into business associate agreements (BAAs). Far too often though, entities commit one of two errors when doing so – they either sign a BAA “as is” without careful consideration of its terms or they negotiate each and every item in the agreement, Compliancy Group says on its website.

The first error may result in significant costs and liability, and the second wastes time and money. This webinar will address the terms and conditions of BAAs that require your attention, and which ones you shouldn’t lose worry about. The webinar will give both covered entities and business associates the tools they need to identify and address BAA risks, while protecting their business and saving time and money.

Register for the webinar.

Bloomberg BNA’s Pension and Benefits blog reports that employers might begin drawing back on using wellness programs if they don’t get clarifying regulations on the treatment of financial incentives under the Americans with Disabilities Act from the EEOC, witnesses said at a Senate committee hearing.

Both Republican and Democrats spoke in favor of wellness programs at the Jan. 29 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, but said that recent actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against employers that use financial incentives in their programs may hinder their further growth, because employers that comply with the Affordable Care Act’s provisions on these incentives could find themselves out of compliance with the ADA, the blog reports.

Read the story.

Benefit Express has posted a free on-demand webinar on dealing with health care reform as it relates to temporary workers.

Topics include: when temporary employees become your employees, the factors the government uses to determine employment status, the steps you can take to avoid these employees becoming your employees, and consequences under Health Care Reform if it is determined that they are your employees.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Business Insurance offers a free on-demand webinar explaining how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law.

This webinar will explain how and why companies should prepare to comply with fresh health benefits requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the political, legal and regulatory changes that could alter the continued implementation of the five-year-old landmark law, Business Insurance says on its website.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on the legality of IRS rules that authorize health insurance premium subsidies to the millions of uninsured people obtaining coverage in the 36 states where the federal government runs health insurance exchanges. If the high court strikes down those rules, will health care costs soar again for employers as hospitals and other medical providers move to curtail uncompensated care expenses by increasing medical charges for insured patients?

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Compliancy Group will present a complimentary webinar discussing the difficulty of reaching full compliance with HIPAA.

The webinar will be Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 2-3:30 p.m. CST.

Susan K. Hatmaker, Esq. of Hatmaker Law Group along with Alan Thaxter, Senior Client Consultant of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., will present a free webinar covering an update for 2015 on the Affordable Care Act.

The one-hour event will be Wednesday, Feb. 18, beginning at noon Pacific time.

Hatmaker Law Group’s webinars serve as educational opportunities for employers, owners, managers, accountants, attorneys and human resource professionals to stay current on up-to-date information on important California employment law issues, the firm said in a release about the upcoming event..

For more information contact Laura Dakin at (559) 374-0077 or email laura@hatmakerlaw.com or go to hatmakerlaw.com/events/

Repros Therapeutics Inc. announced Dec. 29 that a federal judge in Texas has issued a definitive ruling finding correct inventorship for two of the company’s Androxal patents, confirming that Repros Therapeutics is the sole and rightful owner of the patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,759,360 (the “‘360 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 7,737,185 (the “‘185 patent”).

Calling Dr. Harry Fisch’s claims of co-inventorship “strained to the point of absurdity,” Judge Vanessa Gilmore of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found that Dr. Fisch “contributed nothing to the actual invention” of the ‘360 patent. She also found “an absence of material facts to support a finding of co-inventorship” of the ‘185 patent.

A release from Repros stated:

Dr. Fisch, a New York urologist and fertility specialist, has made numerous statements, including to the news media, that he was a co-inventor and had contributed to the conception of the patents.

Repros filed suit against Dr. Fisch in August 2013 seeking a declaratory judgment of ownership and inventorship of the ‘360 and ‘185 patents regarding the treatment of hypogonadism in men. In the lawsuit, the Company asserted that Repros’ President and CEO, Joseph S. Podolski, was correctly named as the sole inventor of the ‘360 patent, and that he and Repros Vice President of Research and Development, Ronald Wiehle, were correctly named as co-inventors of the ‘185 patent.

In October 2013, Dr. Fisch filed counterclaims against Repros as well as against Mr. Podolski and Dr. Wiehle, seeking correction of inventorship of these patents.

On the basis of equitable estoppel and an absence of material facts to support a finding of co-inventorship in the case of each of the patents, the court granted both of Repros’ motions for summary judgment and denied Dr. Fisch’s motion for summary judgment.

The decision confirms Repros’ rights to the Androxal patents.

A lawsuit alleges Gilead Sciences is price gouging by pricing its Sovaldi hepatitis C treatment at $1,000 a pill, the Wall Street Journal reports in one of its blogs.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves the greater Philadelphia area, last week filed an unusual lawsuit claiming that Gilead is price gouging. The drug maker charges $84,000 for a 12-week regimen, or $1,000 a pill.

“In arguing its case, the transit agency claims that, by using ‘exorbitant pricing,’ Gilead has made it difficult for some consumers and government programs to afford its medication and, subsequently, violated antitrust laws,” the blog reports.

A Gilead spokeswoman is quoted as saying the lawsuit is “completely devoid of merit.”

Read the story.

Holland & Hart offers a complimentary on-demand webinar on the most important things employers should be doing now to prepare for health care reform during 2015.

The webinar discusses what to expect and how to prepare to comply with the ACA employer reporting requirements, and recent changes to the rules for determining full-time employee status and applicable employer coverage requirements.

The presenters also talk about important transition rules that delay the effective date of certain ACA requirements for some employers, and about the Administration’s enforcement efforts targeting employers who “dump” their employees on the exchanges.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The Network for Public Health Law presents a free on-demand webinar discussing the international public health community’s response to the Ebola crisis.

Global health law leader Lawrence O. Gostin also will discuss vulnerabilities in the United States and examine the gaps and challenges currently existing in global preparedness and response systems.

This webinar is a part of the Public Health Law Webinar Series, focused on providing the public health community with practical knowledge on emerging topics. The series is sponsored by American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics; Network for Public Health Law; and Public Health Law Research Program.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Clearwater Compliance will present a complimentary webinar describing best practices for business leaders, managers and professionals with responsibility for HIPAA privacy, security, compliance or risk management.

The webinar will be Thursday, Dec. 18, at 11 a.m. Central time.

On its website, Clearwater says the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule (Final Rule), finalized in 2013, made substantial changes to the obligations and liabilities of business associates (BAs) and their subcontractors. These changes implement provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which sought to make business associates more accountable for the use, disclosure and security of protected health information (PHI).  Business Associates, and their subcontractors, now face HIPAA enforcement actions and are directly liable for violating the HIPAA Security Rule, as well as certain provisions of the Privacy and Breach Notification Rules.

The Final Rule extended the definition of “business associate” to include a “subcontractor that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information on behalf of the business associate.” Although the Final Rule has been in effect for over a year, most BAs, and subcontractors, are not compliant and many don’t know where to start. Clearwater says.

Register for the webinar.

Compliancy Group will host a complimentary webinar to help health care organizations manage patient receivables in a more efficient, profitable way.

The 90-minute webinar will be Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Practical Law and Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn LLP have posted a free on-demand webinar titled “Insider Perspective: Antitrust Treatment of Physician Practice Acquisitions,” a discussion of the decisions in Saint Alphonsus, et al v. St. Luke’s, et al and Federal Trade Commission, et al v. St. Luke’s, et al, the first cases to address the antitrust implications of hospital acquisitions of physician practices.

Peter Herrick, Senior Trial Counsel, Federal Trade Commission; David Ettinger, counsel for St. Alphonsus Health System; and Stephanie Westermeier, General Counsel, Saint Alphonsus Health System offered their insider perspectives about these landmark decisions in which they were directly involved, including which evidence was most persuasive and counseling tips for future physician group acquisitions.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The Network for Public Health Law presents a free on-demand webinar providing an update on Affordable Care Act implementation, including states’ decisions regarding Medicaid expansion and health insurance exchanges, as well as a number of provisions regarding public health.

Experts will also discuss the legal challenges, some seeking to enjoin the law and others, to enforce it.

November marked the second year when millions of Americans can purchase health insurance coverage through the online marketplaces established by the ACA. The health law’s first year was bumpy, due to technical glitches that plagued the marketplaces and a number of states’ refusals to expand Medicaid, The Network said on its website. The ACA was challenged by dozens of lawsuits that raised a range of constitutional and statutory arguments. In the most high profile case of the year, the Supreme Court ruled that some companies can be exempt from the ACA’s contraceptive requirements.

Watch the on-demand webinar and view the slides.

With health reform in full effect, compliance is top of mind for employers, health insurance brokers, and CPAs. As employers transition to individual health insurance and premium reimbursement, there are important compliance considerations to understand and comply with.

Zane Benefits offers a complimentary 60-minute on-demand webinar that covers the issue.

On its website, Zane Benefits says this session will cover:

• 3 ways to reimburse employees for individual health insurance
• The federal regulations employers must follow to avoid costly fines
• Tips for administering a compliant, tax-free reimbursement plan in 5 minutes per month
• Answers to common compliance questions

Watch the on-demand webinar.

The National Health Law Association has posted online a complimentary white paper on rules for determining a consumer’s Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI).

MAGI applies when determining eligibility for advance payments of the premium tax credit (APTC) and cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) for health coverage purchased through the Marketplace, as well as eligibility for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid, NHLA says on its website.

This paper focuses on using MAGI to calculate a consumer’s total household income. This paper was provided as part of the navigator and assister training series by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Weekly Marketplace Webinar trainings for assisters.

Download the white paper.

Compliancy Group will present a complimentary webinar discussing the common misconception that  “A risk assessment makes me HIPAA compliant.”

The webinar will be Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2-3 p.m. Eastern time.

The thought that a risk assessment always brings HIPAA compliance can cost your practice more than taking no action at all, said a spokesman for Compliancy Group.  A risk assessment is a requirement  for HITECH under Meaningful Use Core Measure 15, but it does NOT make you HIPAA compliant.  Furthermore, it can enter you into the section of willful neglect and open your organization into the next level of fines.

Register for the webinar.

Plunkett Cooney will conduct a complimentary webinar that will provide an update on the current status of the Affordable Care Act and its continued impact on employers.

The webinar will be Thursday, Nov. 13, beginning at noon Eastern time.

Labor and employment law attorney Gary W. Francis will provide an update on the ACA.

The webinar will include a refresher on the law and its basic concerns for employers, an outline of the law’s 2014 regulations and finalized guidance on how to implement the law, a summary of the recordkeeping and reporting obligations for employers, and a discussion of what is on the horizon, as well as upcoming issues for employers when the ACA timeline moves to completion.

Register for the webinar.

Clearwater Compliance will present a free webinar on the current requirements of the HIPAA Security Final Rule for documentation and Policies and Procedures as well as how to actually design and develop security and privacy policies and procedures.

The webinar will be Thursday, Nov. 20, at 11 a.m. Central time.

Any HIPAA audit or investigations are sure to include close review of privacy and security policies and procedures.  This webinar is designed to teach how to get them in place and operational quickly, Clearwater Compliance said on its website.

Register for the webinar.

Fredrikson & Byron will present a complimentary webinar on on the legal concerns that arise specifically from ACO arrangements in the commercial sphere (outside of the Medicare Shared Savings Program).

The webinar will be Wednesday, Oct. 8, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, Fredrikson & Byron says that while ACOs)Accountable Care Organizations) are on relatively firm footing when working with Medicare, most are more interested in commercial business where the legal landscape is far less distinct. Key issues include Stark and Antikickback laws, Antitrust concerns, state insurance laws and tax exemption laws that impact exempt hospitals and key provisions of the provider agreement.

Steve Beck and Laurie Hartman, attorneys in Fredrikson & Byron’s Health Care Group, will make the presentation.

Register for the webinar.