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New Office of Environmental Justice Announced

Client Alert
June 9, 2022

The profound impacts of climate change, combined with environmental and industrial pollutions, have led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). The creation of OEJ aligns with President Biden’s Executive Order Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. The OEJ will be led by Sharunda Buchanan, a former official for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and will target disadvantaged communities around the country in hopes of improving the health of those populations and preventing future harm.  

Climate change impacts the physical and mental health of all persons but is especially critical to those populations that have been discriminated against socially or economically. Communities that are of most concern to OEJ are those composed of low-income families and communities of color since they continue to suffer disproportionally from industrial pollution, agricultural practices, detrimental land use decisions, and negative impacts of transportation. Historically, communities of low socio-economic status are at a greater risk for health concerns and cannot prepare respond or recover from health threats, most likely due to a lack of available resources in the communities and access to care. Likewise, these same, disadvantaged communities cannot prepare, respond, or recover from climate threats because environmental justice issues are inevitable to health issues. Things like geographical location, occupation, pre-existing illness, indigenous communities, immigrants and non-English speaking residents are factors that put these communities at a greater risk for environmental injustice and discrimination. 

A specific concern for the low-income communities and communities of color is the high risk for lead exposure and inadequate wastewater treatment. Lead exposure is especially dangerous to children under 6 years of age because they are still growing rapidly, and their brains are quickly developing. High levels of lead exposure and lead poisoning have been linked to slowed physical growth and brain development. These lifelong impacts cannot be reversed and there is no cure for lead poisoning, which is why prevention is so important. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has educational tools to identify sources of lead exposure, like paint, soil, and drinking water. Children who are most at-risk for lead exposure are those who live in houses built before 1978 and those who live near industries known for releasing lead into the air. Mostly, the responsibility to protect children from lead exposure has fallen on the shoulders of the families and communities. There are tests that can be performed to determine the specific level of lead found in the drinking water and various federal programs to remove the lead from the household, but these resources are difficult for families to access since they must coordinate the test and the renovations with a third-party. But with the creation of the OEJ, the responsibility to help lower the risks of lead exposure has shifted, as the OEJ has been tasked with improving safe drinking water and eliminating excessive pollution and environmental hazards. 

To learn more about the OEJ, visit: The Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) | HHS.gov. 

To learn more about lead poisoning and ways to decrease your risk of exposure, visit: Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program | CDC. 

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to BMD Attorney Kate Hickner at kehickner@bmdllc.com.

Client Alert

Updated FAQs for the No Surprises Act - Good Faith Estimates

April 7, 2022The No Surprises Act (“NSA”) became effective January 1, 2022. Meant to protect consumers from surprise medical bills, the new law is good for consumers, but vexatious for health care providers and facilities. One particular source of frustration is the operationalization of the Good Faith Estimate (“GFE”) requirement, governed by Part II of the regulations that implement the NSA. The GFE requirements apply broadly to all healthcare providers and facilities that practice within the scope of their state-issued license.Client Alert

IMPORTANT PRF UPDATE! HRSA Allows Providers the Opportunity to Correct Missed Period 1 Reporting

April 7, 2022Late Wednesday, April 6, HRSA announced that it was going to allow providers with extenuating circumstances that prevented them from preventing a completed Period 1 Report to submit a Request to Report Late Due to Extenuating Circumstances.Client Alert

Advanced Practice Providers and Telemedicine Start-Up Surge

March 8, 2022Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we heard a lot about “surges” that happened all over the country regarding the virus. One of the other interesting “surges” we have followed is the “surge” in new healthcare business start-ups, particularly businesses owned by advanced practice providers, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives, clinical nurse specialists, and certified registered nurse anesthetists (“Advanced Practice Providers” or “APPs”). One of the hottest areas in the healthcare start-up surge has been the creation of practices that are telemedicine focused.Client Alert

Ohio Department of Health Releases Updated Charge Limits for Medical Records

March 7, 2022Under Ohio law, a healthcare provider or medical records company that receives a request for a copy of a patient's medical record may charge an amount in accordance with the limits set forth in Ohio Revised Code Section 3701.741. The allowable amounts are increased or decreased annually by the average percentage of increase or decrease in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, prepared by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the immediately preceding calendar year over the calendar year immediately preceding that year, as reported by the Bureau. The Director of the Ohio Department of Health makes this determination and adjusts the amounts accordingly. The list is then published, here.Client Alert

No Surprises Act Compliance (Published by NAMAS, 2/25/22)

March 7, 2022The Department of Health and Human Services published three parts to the No Surprises Act towards the end of 2021, which took effect January 1, 2022. The Act is intended to protect consumers from “balance billing,” which occurs when a patient receives a bill with a higher price than they may have anticipated because they did not have knowledge that the provider or facility was out-of-network. The purpose of this article is to note certain requirements that compliance employees will need to be aware of at their facilities, including notice and consent, good faith estimates, and public disclosures.
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