On June 12, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the 2020 Final Rule) that rescinds certain protections afforded to LGBTQ individuals and persons with limited English proficiency. At the same time, the 2020 Final Rule removes burdensome disclosure requirements that may be a welcome relief for entities covered by Section 1557. On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that workplace discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation is forbidden under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although Title VII is not included in the precedential civil rights laws that gave rise to Section 1557, we nevertheless anticipate that the Supreme Court’s holding will lead to legal challenges in a number of areas, including healthcare and health insurance, religious exemptions and the 2020 Final Rule from HHS OCR.
HHS Finalizes Anti-Discrimination Revisions to ACA Section 1557
By Jacob Mattinson, Judith Wethall, Gregory Fosheim, Winnie Uluocha and Todd Solomon on July 14, 2020
Posted In Benefit Controversies, Health and Welfare Plans
Tags: 2020 Final Rule, ACA, DOJ, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, HHS, LEP, LGBTQ, limited English Proficiency, OCR, Office for Civil Rights, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Section 1557, Title IX, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Justice
Jacob MattinsonJacob M. Mattinson focuses his practice on employee benefits and matters related to 401(k), 403(b), pension, executive compensation, health care reform, and cafeteria and welfare plans. Jacob assists clients in drafting employee benefit plan documents and amendments. He represents clients in matters before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), US Department of Labor (DOL) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation with respect to plain qualification issues. Read Jacob Mattinson's full bio.
Judith WethallJudith Wethall focuses her practice on employee benefits, specifically health and welfare programs. She counsels employers, plan administrators, insurers and consultants on a wide range of ERISA compliance issues. Judith's clients include sole proprietors to Fortune 100 companies and cover a variety of industries including health care, technology, manufacturing, insurance and financial. Read Judith Wethall's full bio.
Gregory FosheimGregory E. Fosheim advises healthcare and life sciences clients across a variety of corporate, transactional and regulatory compliance matters. Working with hospitals, physician practice groups, clinical research programs, pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers and others, Greg provides counsel on healthcare fraud and abuse risks, Medicare, Medicaid, and private payor billing, and clinical research and laboratory compliance in connection with federal grants, among other issues. Greg also provides regulatory due diligence support on healthcare transactions and collaborations, helping his clients drive innovation and expand their businesses. Read Gregory Fosheim’s full bio.
Winnie UluochaWinnie Uluocha advises all segments of the healthcare industry, including hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, private equity investors and their platform companies, and other healthcare clients. In transactional matters, such as strategic mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and joint ventures, Winnie assists in due diligence, drafting and reviewing agreements, analyzing and researching regulatory issues, forming and restructuring corporate entities, and advising on the same. Winnie also provides statutory and regulatory compliance counseling to health systems, academic medical centers, hospitals, and a variety of healthcare entities in emerging areas such as digital health, telehealth, hospital and health system innovation centers, and privacy and security matters. Read Winnie Uluocha’s full bio.
Todd SolomonTodd A. Solomon is the head of McDermott’s Benefits, Compensation & Employment Practice Group. Todd focuses his practice on designing, amending and administrating pension, profit sharing, 401(k), employee stock ownership and 403(b) plans, as well as nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements. He also counsels privately and publicly held corporations and tax-exempt entities regarding fiduciary issues under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employee benefits issues involved in corporate transactions, executive compensation matters and the implementation of benefit programs for domestic partners of employees. Read Todd A. Solomon's full bio.
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