[author: Jane Anderson]
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The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled its 13th enforcement action in its Right of Access Initiative, first announced in 2019 to support individuals’ rights to timely access their health records at a reasonable cost under the privacy rule.
[1] As part of the settlement, announced Dec. 22, Peter Wrobel, doing business as Georgia-based Elite Primary Care, agreed to take corrective actions and pay $36,000 to settle a potential violation of the right of access standard. In April 2019, OCR received a complaint alleging that Elite failed to respond to a patient’s request for access to his medical records, and OCR provided technical assistance in May 2019. However, OCR received a second complaint in October 2019 alleging that Elite still had not provided the patient with access to his medical records and initiated an investigation. In addition to the monetary settlement, Elite is required to follow a corrective action plan (CAP) for two years. The
By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Leading New Mexico legislators are proposing a 4% increase in state general fund spending that would devote new resources to health care and public education amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The detailed budget proposal was announced Tuesday by Democratic and Republican members of a lead budget-writing committee.
Legislators are also proposing cost-of-living pay increases for state workers and public school employees and a bailout of the state s indebted unemployment trust fund to avoid future payroll tax increases.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is suggesting 3.3% increase in spending without blanket pay raises. Economists are predicting a rebound in state government income on top of multibillion-dollar financial reserves.
January 12, 2021
As New Mexico looks to move to phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccination plan, nearly 400,000 New Mexicans have signed up to get their name on the list, Health Secretary-designate Dr. Tracie Collins said in a press conference Monday.
As of Monday, and citing information from 81 percent of providers, Collins said the state had received more than 170,000 doses from the federal government despite a rocky process on the federal level and administered 78,143 of those doses, including more than 30,000 in the last week.
Those who qualify for a vaccination “will receive a notification when a vaccine is available at a nearby location” and be able to set up an appointment, Collins said.
By Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press
New Mexico Democrats say they re closer than ever to increasing withdrawals from one of the country s largest endowments to fund education initiatives.
Increasing annual payouts from the $20 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund would require voters to approve a constitutional amendment. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says a 1% increase in distributions should be set aside to fund early childhood education.
While the withdrawals will decrease future growth of the fund, Democratic legislators argue that the state needs to invest more in education. They say public sentiment is shifting in their favor, and a new crop of progressive legislators can get the needed resolution passed.