July 29, 2021

Tech Week in Review: CA Broadband, Reporting Cyberattacks, Antitrust, Surveillance, Apple’s Remote Work, Netflix Gaming

CA to Spend $6B on Broadband: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill ( SB 156 ) last week committing the state to spending $6 billion over the next three years on expanding broadband access, particularly in underserved and rural communities. Over half of the funding, $3.25 billion, will go toward middle-mile infrastructure, linking internet providers with local access points like schools and hospitals. Another...

July 29, 2021

Health Care Roundup: Opioids, Hospital Prices, Pregnant Prisoners, Nursing Home Vaccinations, Health Worker Burnout

$26B Opioid Settlement Awaits Approval by States, Municipalities : A group of state AGs unveiled a $26 billion proposed settlement with major drug makers over their alleged role in the national opioid epidemic. Under the terms of the deal - the second-largest ever, after the $246 billion tobacco settlement agreement in 1998 - the nation’s three biggest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and...

July 15, 2021

Hot Issues This Week

Business VERMONT Gov. Phil Scott (R) vetoes SB 79 , legislation that would have set up a rental registry, and statewide system to enforce property safety standards. Scott said he feared the bill would lead to less housing inventory “at a time when we are grappling with a critical housing shortage.” FLORIDA Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signs SB 1120 , a telemarketing regulation measure that, among several things...

July 15, 2021

Tech Week In Review: Google Lawsuit, Right-to-Repair, Consumer Data Privacy

Google Hit with Another Multistate Lawsuit: A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 36 states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging its Android app store, Google Play, is in violation of antitrust laws. The suit specifically targets the 30 percent commission Google intends to charge all developers who sell apps on Google Play, where, the suit also claims, 90 percent of Android...

July 15, 2021

Health Care Round-Up: Surprise Billing, Pharmacy Working Conditions, Essential Care Worker Shortage

Big Question Remains with New Federal Surprise Billing Law: The federal No Surprises Act, passed late last year as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (HR 133), will allow providers to bill patients for out-of-network care under certain conditions and only after completing a strict “notice and consent” process. The law, which takes effect in January 2022, makes it clear that patients can’t...

July 15, 2021

Insurance Week: Ransomware Payouts, Wildfire Season, Windstorms, Safety Inspections

Will Cyber Insurers Stop Reimbursing for Ransomware Payouts?: For a while now the prevailing wisdom in the cyber insurance industry has been that victims should just pay off the hackers and seek reimbursement from their insurer because it’s just less costly for everyone. But with ransomware cases having shot up 400 percent last year and cyber insurance payouts now topping 70 percent of premiums, that may not...

June 18, 2021

Hot Issues This Week

Business LOUISIANA Gov. John Bel Edwards signs SB 147 , which creates a framework for self-driving delivery robots to carry packages, food and other items on Pelican State streets. Under the new law, delivery devices must yield to pedestrians, cannot obstruct traffic or transport hazardous materials. Education TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signs SB 1385 , a bill that allows college athletes to profit from the use...

June 18, 2021

Insurance Week: Insurance Reform Bill, Wildfire Losses, Zero-Dollar Claims, Rideshare Reduces Motor Vehicle Injuries

Just-Signed Insurance Reform Bill Already Working in FL: A bill ( SB 76 ) reforming property insurance and roofing contractor practices in Florida was just signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on June 11 and won’t officially take effect until July 1. But by some accounts it’s already having a positive impact on the state’s beleaguered insurance market. Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier...

June 18, 2021

Tech Week In Review: Consumer Data Privacy, Bitcoin Mining, EV Charging Stations

CO Becomes Third State to Pass Consumer Data Privacy Bill: Colorado has become the third state - after California and Virginia - to pass a comprehensive consumer data privacy bill. On June 8 the state’s General Assembly passed SB 190 , which, if signed by Gov. Jared Polis (D), would allow residents to tell companies to stop collecting data on them. The measure would also let residents globally opt out of ad-based...

June 18, 2021

Health Care Round-Up: SCOTUS and ACA, Hospital Price Transparency, Medicaid Overcharges

ACA Survives Third Supreme Court Challenge: For the third time since being enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act has survived a major challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court. By a wider margin than in the previous challenges in 2012 and 2015, with seven of the nine justices in the majority, the court ruled that the plaintiffs in the case - two individuals and 18 states - hadn’t suffered direct injury from the law...

June 18, 2021

States Bounce Back from Pandemic

It seems only yesterday that states and local governments were pleading poverty as they counted revenue losses from a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 600,000 lives in the United States and cost the jobs of 1.4 million teachers and government workers. Governors and state legislative leaders across the country appealed for federal assistance. The situation was supposedly so dire that many states would...

June 14, 2021

Employers Weigh Myriad Rules as Workers Return

As workers migrate back to their workplaces, they will often return to an environment fundamentally changed from the one they left so many months ago. But while most long term changes are yet to be determined, there is plenty in the short term to keep employers and workers alike on their toes. If You Call Them, Will They Come? One question is whether workers will return to their workplace at all. According to a recent...

June 14, 2021

Governors This Week: Power Grid Overhaul, CA Governor Recall & More

Abbott Signs TX Power Grid Overhaul : Months after a deadly February storm killed hundreds of people, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a pair of bills that together overhaul the governance of the Lone Star State power grid that many blame for their deaths. State officials say the bitterly cold storm, which left almost 5 million homes and businesses without power for five says, killed 151 residents. Analysis by media...

June 14, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: Minimum Wage, Single-Use Plastic Bags, Recreational Marijuana & More

Business The DELAWARE Senate approves HB 88 , which would do away with a law that allows employers to temporarily pay 50 cents an hour less than the minimum wage to teens and those being trained. It moves to Gov. John Carney (D), who is expected to sign it into law. TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signs HB 4474 , which establishes a legal framework for cryptocurrency investments in the Lone Star State. The measure ensures...

June 14, 2021

Tech Week In Review: Colonial Pipeline Hackers, Ransomware Attackers, Back to the Office & More

FBI Likely Hacked Colonial Pipeline Hackers, Not Bitcoin to Recover Ransom: The FBI was likely able to recover $2.3 million in bitcoin that Colonial Pipeline paid ransomware hackers in April because of poor password storage by the hackers rather than a security vulnerability in the cryptocurrency, according to crypto experts. Nic Carter, founding partner of Castle Island Ventures said the FBI probably accessed a server...

June 14, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Alzheimer Drug Therapy, Healthcare Reform, Telehealth & More

FDA Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug Sparks Controversy: Last week the FDA granted conditional approval of the first new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in almost twenty years. Although the decision may have come as welcome news to the millions of Americans suffering from the disease and their families, it also sparked plenty of controversy. Unlike other Alzheimer’s drugs that treat symptoms of the...

June 04, 2021

‘Deepfakes’ Emerging Issue in State Legislatures

The alteration of video and other digital content is nothing new. But the application of artificial intelligence to that pursuit has taken it to a whole new level - known as a “deepfake” - and begun to draw the attention of state lawmakers. Photographs, moving pictures and audio recordings have been subject to manipulation virtually since they came into existence. The fakes got better with the coming of...

June 04, 2021

Governors This Week: Abbott Yanks Licenses of Facilities that House Immigrant Kids

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week ordered state regulators to yank the licenses of facilities that house undocumented migrant kids. The move was intended to stymie a Biden administration policy that contracts with 52 Texas general residential facilities to house approximately 4,200 migrant children. Those contracts required the facilities to be licensed by the state. The Office of Refugee Resettlement contracts with...

June 04, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: Curbside Alcohol, Sports Wagering, Transgender Sports and More

Business The VERMONT House and Senate give final approval to HB 313 , a measure that would extend for two years an earlier executive order by Gov. Phil Scott (R) allowing for the curbside pickup and delivery of alcohol. It is with Gov. Scott now for consideration. TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signs SB 315 , a bill that bars anyone under 21 from working in or even entering a “sexually oriented business.”...

June 04, 2021

Tech Week In Review: Ransomware Attacks, Federal Hacking Law, Rural Broadband and More

SCOTUS Narrows Scope of Federal Hacking Law: The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the reach of the 34-year-old federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act last week, ruling that it is not a violation of that law for someone who is authorized to access a computer system to do so for an inappropriate reason. The decision came in connection with a case involving a former Georgia police sergeant who agreed to look up a driver’s...

June 04, 2021

Healthcare Round Up: Stand-Alone ER's, Mandatory Healthcare Worker Bonuses, Canadian Drug Imports & More

CO Seeking to Shut Down Stand-Alone ERs: A decade ago free-standing emergency rooms began cropping up around the country with the promise of providing emergency care in areas where there were no hospitals or where hospital ERs were overcrowded. But instead, the stand-alone ERs - which now number in the hundreds across more than 20 states - tend to be located in affluent suburbs and treat patients who don’t actually...

May 14, 2021

Governor's This Week: Alcohol-to-Go, Homelessness, Unemployment and More

TX, FL, IA Govs Sign on for Alcohol to Go : The governors of Florida, Iowa and Texas signed measures last week that make permanent pandemic-induced temporary regulations allowing restaurants to sell alcohol to go or for delivery. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) started the week by signing HF 766 , which allows delivery of alcohol from bars and restaurants by third-party delivery services and removes a requirement that...

May 14, 2021

Insurance Week: Dropping Policies, Auto Insurance Restrictions and More

FL Insurers Dropping Over 50,000 Polices to Remain Afloat: The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has issued consent orders allowing three insurers to drop thousands of personal residential policies to try to remain solvent. Universal Insurance Co. of North America (UICNA) was authorized to cancel 13,294 policies; Gulfstream Property & Casualty was authorized to drop 20,311 policies, and Southern Fidelity Insurance...

May 14, 2021

Tech Week In Review: Colonial Pipeline Hack, Bitcoin, Instagram for Kids and More

Colonial Pipeline Paid Hackers Millions to Restore Service: Colonial Pipeline Co. reportedly paid almost $5 million in cryptocurrency to hackers this month to get its ransomware-disabled computer network restored and resume operation of its fuel pipeline, the largest in the nation. The company learned of the attack - believed to be the work of a digital extortion group known as DarkSide, based in Russia or Eastern Europe...

May 14, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Skyrocketing Costs of COVID-19 Test Kits, Nursing Home Workers Strike and More

Coronavirus Tests Cash Cows for Some Providers: Some hospitals have been charging as much as $650 for a basic molecular COVID-19 test that costs them less than $50 to do, according to analysis of Medicare claims by Hospital Pricing Specialists. Some free-standing ERs have been charging over $1,000 for such tests. And with 400 million coronavirus tests having already been administered, they’ve provided a steady...