David Brust, Class of 2022, Belmont Law On January 10, 2022, the Biden Administration announced starting January 15, 2022, private insurance companies are required to cover eight at-home COVID-19 tests per month per individual. While an individual may have to pay up front for the tests, their insurer will be required to reimburse them if …
Does OSHA Lack Authority to Impose a Vaccine Mandate?
Maddie Gilmore, Class of 2023, Belmont Law On January 13th, the Supreme Court stopped the Biden administration’s push to enact its policy of encouraging vaccine use through a mandate that would apply to 84.2 million employees to get vaccinated or “obtain a medical test each week at their own expense and on their own time …
Congressional Clarification: Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Ask Congress What it Meant
Maddie Gilmore, Belmont Law, Class of 2023 Congress sets up control-and-demand agencies to carry out its legislative schemes. The typical structure of a federal agency is laid out by Congress. When Congress passes a statute that sets up an agency, called an Enabling Act, drafters try to include the various enforcement powers that they intend …
NBA and NFL Health Care Programs Are Not Immune From False Claims
David Brust, Class of 2022, Belmont Law Eighteen former National Basketball Association (“NBA”) players have been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud for making false claims to the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan. The NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan provides players with health coverage after their careers end. …
OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard
Will Brandt, Class of 2022, Belmont Law On November 5th, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). To summarize the ETS, employers who employ over one hundred employees, or Covered Employers, “must develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, with an exception …
Merck Sued for Allegedly “Monopolistic Practices”
Will Brandt, Class of 2022, Belmont Law Insurance providers Humana and Centene have filed suit against Merck & Co. and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. alleging a monopolistic scheme to delay generic versions of its blockbuster cholesterol drug, Zetia. Merck is an American multinational pharmaceutical company that is headquartered in New Jersey. Merck produces the drug Zetia, …
Steps in the Right Direction
Maddie Gilmore, Class of 2023, Belmont Law The representation or lack thereof of minority populations in clinical trials for new drugs and medical devices is a well-established issue. The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is the administrative agency tasked with regulating the research required to accompany applications for approval of new drugs or devices as …
A New York Judge Declines the DOJ’s Attempt to Delay Purdue Pharma’s Bankruptcy Settlement
David Brust, Class of 2022, Belmont Law. On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, a federal judge in New York declined to grant the Department of Justice’s attempt to delay Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement. Purdue Pharma, founded and owned by the Sackler family, invented OxyContin and has received sharp criticism for the drug’s role in the ongoing …
A Primer: The No Surprises Act
Will Brandt, Class of 2022, Belmont Law The following will serve as a primer on the “No Surprises Act” (“The Act”) that Congress passed on December 27, 2020. The Act goes into effect on or after January 1, 2022. At the highest level, The Act seeks to protect patients from surprise medical bills and deter …
What is the HIPAA Right of Access Initiative?
David Brust, Class of 2022, Belmont Law On September 10, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it settled its twentieth HIPAA Right of Access Initiative investigation. The investigation stemmed from a March 2020 complaint made by a parent alleging that Children’s Hospital …