Rory Bellina (00:14):
Hello everyone, and welcome to Health Law Talk presented by Chehardy Sherman Williams. Before we get started, please be sure to subscribe to our podcast and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube – links in the description below. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Conrad Meyer (00:38):
Oh, good morning everyone, and welcome again to another episode of Health Law Talk at Chehardy Sherman Williams. Uh, in the studio today, we have, uh, Conrad Meyer, myself and Roy Bellina.

Rory Bellina (00:48):
Morning everyone.

Conrad Meyer (00:49):
And today we actually have a really good interesting topic that’s very timely and it, it talks about, uh, hipaa, uh, phi, your privacy protections in, in the, I guess the now era of vaccine mandates show your vaccine card, uh, to get access. So what are your rights? What are your individual rights, and what are the issues that are going forward now that we have many cities, including our own, here in New Orleans, who are now requiring vaccine mandate cards for entry to public and private businesses? Lori, what do you think about that?

Rory Bellina (01:25):
Sure. So just a little bit of background, We’re now in mid, mid Augustus on the date of recording of this episode. And like you mentioned, New Orleans and a few other big cities are now mandating, um, proof of vaccination or a negative test to get into a certain establishments or at least starting the vaccination. And, um, I’ve been getting a lot of questions. I know we’ve gotten questions and we’ve addressed this on a previous podcast on, you know, can you mandate your employees to do that? But I think it’s important to revisit this topic. Um, now that it’s, it’s spreading outside of the employment realm and now into businesses that you might wanna go to, a bar, restaurant, a gym, um, what are your rights? Is, is your vaccination card considered phi? Is it a violation of hipaa if your employer tells, um, customers or, you know, faculty members or other parents that their whole staff is vaccinated?

(02:18):
So these are the popular questions that, that I’m hearing and that I’m getting, I’m sure you’re getting the same mm-hmm. , we thought this was a very timely thing to discuss. So I think the, the, how I would like to start this is let’s talking about, you know, a, a very brief introduction of what is PHI and what’s hipaa, because those seem to be the two terms that everyone’s throwing out there right now, and everyone is an expert on what it is, so, Right. That’s right. I think we should just give a brief little summary, and those are very technical terms, and we could spend

Conrad Meyer (02:48):
On, How many times have you heard someone say that’s hipaa? Yeah. You, you, you, you just vi and you’re like, Wait a minute. That’s, that’s really not hip.

Rory Bellina (02:54):
That’s not, that’s not, And, and we could spend separate episodes on PHI and on HIPAA and, and your rights and everything, but I think, um, let’s give our listeners just a little Sure. A little snippet of, we’ll start with, with, with phi, and then we’re gonna work that into the vaccinations.

Conrad Meyer (03:10):
So, so phi, uh, personal, uh, health information, uh, or protected health information, uh, is, is a, is a paramount part of hipaa and basically it’s, it’s, it’s your identifiable information. Now, what that means is that could be any information that could be used to identify you as an individual. Correct. And so interestingly, um, HIPAA has a lot of provisions with regards to de-identifying information, minimum necessary, things like that, that we can talk about if we want. And, uh, but so any, any record, anything like that, that can identify an individual would be considered phi.

Rory Bellina (03:49):
And we could talk just for examples for our listeners that would be, think of when you go to the doctor and they ask you to step on the scale, or they take your blood pressure or they do an x-ray of your, of your broken arm, all of that would fall under this category of phi or,

Conrad Meyer (04:04):
Or, or anything that could be used and reorganized. Right. That would easily identify the individual. So some people go on Facebook, social media, and they say, Well, this patient on this day went to this doctor and this happened. Well, if someone happened to know, well, I know Sweet Sue went on that day to see that doctor, well then suddenly have you violated hipaa because someone was able to reconfigure the information to identify the individual.

Rory Bellina (04:32):
Right. Right. No, so it, it, it can be very, it can, it can expand and be very broad. Broad, Right. So the, the definition of phi, there are some things that are phi and there are some things that aren’t so mm-hmm. , let’s just jump in right to it is, or your vaccine or your vaccination records, PHI

Conrad Meyer (04:49):
Records or the card you get, Like when I go to Walgreens, you get a card, right.

Rory Bellina (04:54):
Let look, let’s say both.

Conrad Meyer (04:56):
I think, I think the vaccine card is pH, it’s got your name on it.

Rory Bellina (04:59):
It does. And it says the, the dates, the vial, the date, date, which vaccine you got. Correct. So I would think that, to answer our, my own question, I think that card that most of us have, those CDC little three by four cards, I think that will be considered phi.

Conrad Meyer (05:15):
Interestingly, and I know you’ve seen this too, I, I’ve seen people take pictures of themselves with their cards. Right, Right. On Facebook or on, I’m, I’m proud of my card and you know what, good for them. But, but they don’t do, they realize that, hey, I’m flashing my PHI to the

Rory Bellina (05:29):
World. Correct. And they, and they might not. And, and that’s, that’s, that could be another episode, but Right. Exactly. So vaccination records and those cards, we both agree, agree. Yes. That is phi. So let’s go to step two. Okay. Brief overview. HIPAA for our listeners, let’s give a broad, um, but brief, because like I said, we get to spend a whole episode on what is hipaa. So let’s talk about mm-hmm. , what is HIPAA in, in, in a summary? Summary.

Conrad Meyer (05:57):
In, in a summary. I mean, you know, when you say that we’re talking about just the, cuz hip was broken down to security, administrative privacy, Correct. Regulations. So we’re talking about some of the privacy. I’m

Rory Bellina (06:06):
Assuming the pri I think we should focus on the privacy part. I think the security part, we could, we could get into a little bit

Conrad Meyer (06:11):
More technical,

Rory Bellina (06:12):
But, but yeah, I think the privacy part is what most people are, are, are,

Conrad Meyer (06:16):
Okay. So, so basically HIPAA provides that your, your privacy rights for your phi, um, uh, sh can be disclosed through some exceptions, uh, without your authorization.

Rory Bellina (06:29):
And those are common for if it’s an emergency situation. Correct. Mental health is a big one. Um, court orders is another big one for law enforcement reasons. There are exceptions to

Conrad Meyer (06:37):
Exceptions to that

Rory Bellina (06:39):
To get, uh, people’s medical

Conrad Meyer (06:41):
And then physicians can use commonly PHI for treatment payment operations to be able to do that. Correct.

Rory Bellina (06:46):
Billing,

Conrad Meyer (06:47):
TPO exception, I call that. Sure. Uh, for that. And, but then there’s other issues where phi, you are required to have an authorization or a court order in order to release phi. So, and there’s a whole bunch of regulations for that, you know? Yes. You know, uh, so like for example, um, uh, you need an authorization to get a copy of your medical records, right? You need that. So that, that’s an example of when an authorization’s required. So HIPAA lays out the privacy portion of it lays out when an authorization’s needed, when it’s not needed, and some of the ways that PHI can

Rory Bellina (07:20):
Be used. And it talks about the security requirements that providers have to have in place and, and what happens if those are breached. So, So I think we’ve, given our listeners kind of a good background on what is phi,

Conrad Meyer (07:32):
The 50,000 foot view.

Rory Bellina (07:33):
Yes. Very high up. We could, we could spend, you know, hours talking about this. We can do

Conrad Meyer (07:37):
A five part more series on HIPAA and high tech.

Rory Bellina (07:40):
And I love, I love HIPAA and phi, but I think let’s just jump right into what are we hearing the most and what’s popular right now? We’re in mid to late August, 2021 as of the date of recording in this episode. So, Right. Let’s talk about, let’s talk about the requirement and, and I know we’ve talked about this in a previous episode, but, but I just wanna recap for listeners that might not listened to it. Your employer says you must get the vaccination right, or you’re terminated.

Conrad Meyer (08:09):
They can do

Rory Bellina (08:10):
It. Yes, I agree. I agree. Reasonings that they can do it. That,

Conrad Meyer (08:14):
Excuse me, I I think we’re an employment at will state. Correct. So we can decide, um, hiring and firing when we want to. Right, Right. No need for a contract.

Rory Bellina (08:26):
Yeah. And, and I think the big thing, I think the big thing is that you have different, you have different, uh, employers that will come out and say, we want to have all of our employees vaccinated, and it’s a, it’s an operations requirement and we need it for operational procedures, so we are going to do it and, and we need this done. And so they do have some justifications for it. Now, there are exemptions for religious and medical reasons, and again, that, that could be a whole other discussion. Right. But to, just to recap on, on an episode that we’ve discussed before, Yes, you can require your employees to be vaccine.

Conrad Meyer (09:08):
That that’s an easy, that’s an easy

Rory Bellina (09:09):
Lead. That’s an easy one. And, and most people have have already addressed that. So going into, let’s talk about your vaccination records. If your, Yeah. If your employer, let’s say you’re in the school system and your, your, someone in the faculty wants to, you know, promote to the parents, our faculty is 100% vaccinated.

Conrad Meyer (09:33):
I think that statement alone, I think you’re kind of walking that fine line. Yeah. I don’t know if, if, if I would say that, uh, I think that would be a de-identified information because then, you know, but then you could look at each faculty member say, Well, you just said John. Jill. Right. Tom, All of them are all vaccinated.

Rory Bellina (09:52):
Or if they don’t say it, but, you know, Okay, well, I know Conrad’s got the vaccine and I know this whole group has

Conrad Meyer (09:58):
The vaccine. Right, Exactly.

Rory Bellina (09:59):
So that teacher must not have it. So by omission, you’re almost,

Conrad Meyer (10:04):
You’re singling out,

Rory Bellina (10:05):
You’re, you’re singling out information. So,

Conrad Meyer (10:06):
Right. I, I, I mean, you know, and, and we’re seeing it happen all over the place. I mean, I just had it happen, uh, at the, uh, at the two universities in Mount Loyola, for example, we have, you know, this, they’ve disclosed that publicly on the website mm-hmm. of the vaccination rate of the faculty. And, um, and I think, uh, um, uh, I don’t know if the other one did or not, I’m not sure. But I know that that’s sort of a talking point, right. To let everyone know, Hey, we’re vaccinated. Right. And so I do, do I agree with that? Um, uh, from a HIPAA standpoint, I think it’s a little bit troublesome. Mm-hmm. , but you know, I, I can understand the argument behind that. Well, we didn’t, you know, there’s no PHI in that. Right. You know, But just like you said, the, the hipaa, HIPAA provides that by omission or admission. Uh, if you’re able to re-identify someone through correct data or information will then have you violated.

Rory Bellina (11:01):
Right. And by you, you saying that your whole staff or your whole group of employees are vaccinated, you could take that group and say, Okay, now I, I have a piece of their phi that they were all

Conrad Meyer (11:11):
Vaccinated. But it’s not just hipaa. We’re talking about here too, Louisiana itself, Louisiana has its own privacy laws regarding your, your medical information. So it’s not, So we have HIPAA at the federal level. We have Louisiana, uh, at the state level. So, and that’s what, so if it doesn’t fall under hipaa, it’s gonna fall into Louisiana state privacy laws.

Rory Bellina (11:29):
So let’s take it another step further. Yeah. Uhhuh and in Orleans Parish as of last Monday, it’s the requirement if you’re going into a certain establishment that you have to show proof of a negative test, or you’ve started the vaccine. Correct. One of, one of the big three vaccines. So a and, and what they’re asking, you know, we’ll use the restaurant as an example. They’re asking the hostess when you walk in to say, Can I see your, either your card or we have an app in Louisiana that you can show your vaccination status, or you could show the negative tests. So by doing that, is the restaurant now seeing your phi? I would say yes, they are. Yep. Now, you’re willingly, willingly, I’ll use the phrase, willingly getting it to them cuz you’re choosing to go into the establishment. So let’s take these two questions. Are they allowed, Is the government allowed to mandate this? It’s essentially forcing a, a disclosure of, of your phi.

Conrad Meyer (12:27):
So let, let’s break that down because I think that’s a lot of good points in what you just said. So, uh, the, the first one was can the government mandate that the government, the, the state government or the city government can, and, and here’s the deal, they, they can look at it from the occupational license. So Right. If you don’t comply with the directive from the city, your occupational license could be revoked. And then guess what? You don’t have a, you don’t have the right to, to sell and buy goods. Right? Correct. Right. So, so that’s the first problem. The second problem is, if you’re the second to your point, can, um, restaurants ask for the car? Well, remember as an individual, as as Rory Right. Or Conrad, we have the right to disclose our own phi. Correct. So, Correct. So think about this, uh, so we can decide who we want to see or who we want not to see. Correct. I mean, that’s a bedrock kept, uh, uh, a bedrock principle of hipaa. But when we go onto a restaurant’s property, realize we’re an invitee. Correct. We’re an invitee. We’re

Rory Bellina (13:27):
Not forced to

Conrad Meyer (13:28):
Be there. We’re not forced to be there. We’re an invitee from a, from simple, you know, property ownership, you know, we’re, we are an invite on that property. And if the restaurant decides to mandate that, because the city mandates that, because if they don’t do it, they’re gonna lose their occupational license or get fined. Right. Right. Then suddenly, you know, part of the invitee responsibilities is you must show this card or this negative test. Well then yes, you have to do

Rory Bellina (13:55):
It. Right. Now, does your analysis change if it is a public building or public property?

Conrad Meyer (14:01):
Absolutely. Well, yeah. No, no, it doesn’t change the same, same thing. You’re an invite to on the public property. Correct. If the, if the state mandates that in all public areas or, or public, uh, offices, you must do X, then again, you’re an invite team on that property. If they, if you’re not doing what they ask you to do, right, then you can be escorted off the property.

Rory Bellina (14:20):
Right. Okay. So let’s continue with that analysis. Okay. And, and we’ll go back to the one we had B before. If your employer says, My staff is 100% vaccinated and you gave you, you know, your employer asks for proof. Let, let’s talk about that. Can your employer ask for proof of vaccination? I know we’ve discussed this, you know, offline and we’ve discussed can they mandate the vaccine? But can your employer require you to show them proof? Or are they breaching HIPAA by asking for proof of vaccination? They

Conrad Meyer (14:50):
Can ask for proof.

Rory Bellina (14:50):
Absolutely.

Conrad Meyer (14:51):
I believe that.

Rory Bellina (14:52):
I believe it

Conrad Meyer (14:52):
As well. They ask for proof. Show me the card. If you don’t like it, you can leave. Right. Again, employment at will. Correct. You know, you’re, you’re,

Rory Bellina (15:01):
And that’s what it

Conrad Meyer (15:01):
Goes back to. It goes back to employment at will. Um, now the where it gets hairy a little dicey, Right. Is the, uh, is if suddenly someone says, Well, based on my religion, I do, you know, I’m unable to get the vaccine. Right. So a religious exemption,

Rory Bellina (15:19):
So, or a medical exemption based on medical advice, I’m not getting the vaccine. Correct. So what do you do there?

Conrad Meyer (15:24):
Well, that’s a, that’s a, that’s a fine line. So I think if you fire someone because of the vaccine status be due to a religious exemption, you’re running the risk of, uh, of a, of a real, of a civil right. Of a, of a title. Absolutely. Of, of a lawsuit. Yeah. You know, on a what, a title seven or Title nine, I

Rory Bellina (15:43):
Believe it would be seven. Title

Conrad Meyer (15:45):
Seven. Okay. And, and, and, and you really run a problem with that,

Rory Bellina (15:50):
Right? Right. Absolutely. And I think it, it goes even farther when you, you know, will get questions from, I’ve got this question last week from someone who said, Well, my employer said that we were all vaccinated. I gave him my vaccination status in confidence. Now my friends know because they know that I work there, that I’m vaccinated. I didn’t want that. So what are my rights? So if your employer does that Right. And, and, and the question that came up on the call and and I had to explain to them how it works, is to say, I want to make a, I wanna make, you know, what do I do if, if I think they breached my rights

Conrad Meyer (16:24):
Under ReMed?

Rory Bellina (16:25):
Yes. What is, what is the remedy? Is there a private cause or right of

Conrad Meyer (16:29):
Action? That’s,

Rory Bellina (16:30):
And we get that question. I know you get a lot. I get it a

Conrad Meyer (16:33):
Lot. It, it, it, it, it literally, I’d say at least once a week. Right. Someone asks, Well, can I do this?

Rory Bellina (16:38):
I, I think it’s frustrating because you naturally think this is my information. I should have some sort of remedy. But

Conrad Meyer (16:46):
So, so let me, let me dispel the myth, right? Real simple. Yes, please do. HIPAA does not allow for a private right of action, end of story.

Rory Bellina (16:54):
And to break that down into, into layman’s terms that you,

Conrad Meyer (16:58):
In other words, you can’t, you can’t go to court and sue your, whoever, whoever released your PHI or whoever you’re claiming released your phi mm-hmm. , you can’t go to a state court or a federal court and individually sue that person or that employer or that entity, uh, for releasing your PHI under the guise of you violated my HIPAA rights.

Rory Bellina (17:18):
And that is a, a common question. People think that they should be able to do that, but that’s not the way that that HIPAA was

Conrad Meyer (17:24):
Set up. Well, well, it happens. P people allege it in connection with other lawsuits. Correct. Other allegations, uh, that their privacy was violated and they cite hipaa. Um, um, but I, but I always say, Well, wait, that’s misplaced. You, you should not have done that the correct way. If you really are adamant mm-hmm. about pursuing a claim, your remedy is to go to Office of Civil Rights.

Rory Bellina (17:45):
Correct. And they have very strict procedures in place. I’ve worked with them on both sides. I’ve worked with them on behalf of entities that improperly this goes, disclose records. And I’ve worked with them on behalf of groups of patients who thought that their records were disclosed their, their, their backlog.

Conrad Meyer (18:00):
But it’s a whole process

Rory Bellina (18:01):
For that. It’s a full process. And they investigate and they have it. They’re more of an administrative agency. So typically what they do is they just would place fines on the entity that improperly disclosed it. If they find that,

Conrad Meyer (18:14):
Well, there would be an investigation you’d have to apply, but they Evidence or information Exactly. You’d have to,

Rory Bellina (18:18):
To show. Exactly. But as far as, you know, Conrad, your medical records get out. Are you gonna get a check in the mail from that, from this entity? No. No. It’s not set up that way. And I think, I think rightfully so. I think that’d be a, that’d be a

Conrad Meyer (18:31):
Administration. Let me, lemme just say this though. I have seen in litigation where in connection with other allegations that, that their, that their privacy rights were violated. And, and they did, Some people do cite correctly the Yeah. Louisiana privacy laws mm-hmm. and, and, and, and in hipaa. Sure. And what normally happens when the case is, is usually sometimes you’ll see, or a lot of times you’ll see, well, the, the defendants or the, the, the, the, the entity that did this will, will offer some sort of a package of, we’ll do some credit monitoring for you for so many year. Yes. We’ll do some credit monitoring, you know, just to protect you. Yes. And then once that ends, it’s over. But there’s rare, Never have I seen someone say, Oh, I’ve released your pH I, here’s a check. It doesn’t,

Rory Bellina (19:15):
No, I’ve never, like you said, in, in the example that I had, it was credit monitoring. They had to have a hotline. So if you, if you call and you thought that your information was compromised, you could call them. They had to make all these public notifications. But you’re right, it typically stops there. It stops. So I think we’ve covered, you know, just just to recap, you know, can your employer ask for proof of vaccination? Yes. Yes. Can they mandate, can they mandate that you get vaccinated or they’re going to reassign you to a non, you know, forward facing or customer based relationship? Yes. Or can they fire you? Yes,

Conrad Meyer (19:47):
Yes. Yes. All all the, all the above.

Rory Bellina (19:48):
Can the city or the state mandate that you have proof of vaccination to enter into an establishment public?

Conrad Meyer (19:55):
Yes. Yes. And a private establishment. Yes.

Rory Bellina (19:57):
Yes. So we’ve addressed and, and it’s happening. But,

Conrad Meyer (20:00):
But think of the link though. I mean, think of the link. They, I mean, cuz most private businesses would say, no, I mean, I’m a private business, I can do what I want. Right. But the link is, is the occupational license.

Rory Bellina (20:09):
That’s, that’s the, that’s the carrot that they hold. Exactly. And that, and that’s how they’re, you know, having this power. So where, I guess a good segue in before we wrap this up is where do we see this going? What issues do you see coming out of this? You know, I, I, as of this morning, today is August 20th. Right. I heard on the morning that there is a group of businesses in Orleans Parish. There’s another group of businesses in another part of the state that are,

Conrad Meyer (20:37):
And look, this is not just happening here. It’s going a

Rory Bellina (20:39):
Lower country. Right. And they’re all preparing to file some sort of lawsuit against whatever agency it may be saying that, that this is essentially discriminatory or it’s an, it’s a violation of their rights as a, as a private business owner. Mm-hmm. , we don’t know where this is gonna go in the court system, but it’s all evolving daily. But, but where do you see this going with what the, the phrase that’s being thrown out everywhere is these vaccination passports or these vaccination mandates. Is this gonna be the new standard where if you want to go into, at least, you know, for the near future, do you see this continuing expanding? Or is it just so politically based that it could, it it really depends on the state you’re

Conrad Meyer (21:19):
In. That’s such a, that’s a that’s a hot question. It is. Um, me personally, I think it’s gonna, even though I don’t want it to mm-hmm. , I mean, that’s my personal opinion, but I I I see that, uh, it’s going to expand.

Rory Bellina (21:32):
I think so

Conrad Meyer (21:32):
Too. I think it’s gonna expand and then suddenly, you know, we’re gonna be required to show the passport, where wherever we go, it’s gonna, it’s gonna box every, just like the ACA boxed everyone in and lost their insurance policy. Right. You know, they, because if they were forced to basically get a new, new insurance, even though they said, Oh, you can keep it, but

Rory Bellina (21:51):
If you keep it, But it has

Conrad Meyer (21:51):
To meet, but it has to meet certain standards. Right. So eventually, and so you couldn’t grandfather in and eventually it’s gonna squeeze ’em all out right here, I think through the vaccine mandate in New Orleans and soon to be in your, a city near you. Right. Um, I think it’s gonna force unvaccinated, uh, people to get vaccinated. Mm-hmm. , I think it’s

Rory Bellina (22:11):
Gonna force that. And I think the time is, is coming. They’re, they’re putting these procedures in place because we’re getting close to full FDA approval, at least from what you know, you know, we hear what we’re hearing and then, you know, possibly they’re gonna do emergency use for the, the six to 11 age groups. So it’s just gonna continue. And I, I, I don’t see this going away until, you know, we have a much higher nationwide vaccination rate. I think, like you said, it’s going to continue to expound. And, and, and what do you do? I mean, as, as a consumer or as a person that has a personal medical religious exemption, What, what can you do?

Conrad Meyer (22:51):
Well, I don’t, I don’t know. I, I, I think I, if you have a religious exemption or a medical exemption, I think there needs to be some sort of regulation or leeway for people who can, you know, accurately invalidly document that. And

Rory Bellina (23:06):
From what I’m hearing from, from different clients is that if you say, I have a religious exemption or a medical exemption, they ask you to document it, but then they’re still gonna require testing to get in. So I think that is the, and it’s almost a, I don’t wanna call it a punishment, but you know, if you’re claiming one of these exemptions, they’re gonna say, Okay, well, you can come into our business, but you have to get tested within 72 hours of every time you want to come in. And eventually you’re gonna say, you’re

Conrad Meyer (23:32):
Gonna say, I had enough.

Rory Bellina (23:33):
I’ve had enough. I’ll just go get the shot. Right. And I think that is the, unfortunately, I think that’s the goal for, for some of these agencies that are putting these rules into place. And if you really do have a religious or a medical exemption, you’re gonna have to deal with that, with that burden.

Conrad Meyer (23:48):
I, I think it’s, I’m interested to see, because it’s also on a lot of political lines too.

Rory Bellina (23:54):
Very, very. And so when you look at the states, I mean, we’re, we’re neighbored by two states that are refusing to, they’re governors in Texas and Mississippi, and if we wanna go further east to Florida, their governors refusing to do that. Refusing to allow mask man, just ma not even vaccination, mask manage.

Conrad Meyer (24:11):
See, see, you know, where I see this going to, and I wanna say this too, it is, this is that businesses who file the lawsuit might, uh, may or may not be successful. However, I think when the, uh, when the election comes up, all of the actions taken by political leaders, whether it’s the school board and the mass mandate mm-hmm. or the, the mayors and this vaccine card mandate, I think it’s gonna, it’s gonna rise up again. And then you’ll, you’ll have sort of the, the population deciding, well, who do I want an office? Do I want someone who, Right. Who is gonna enforce a vaccine mandate or show me your passport, your vaccine passport. Right. Or do I want someone who says, I’m not gonna require that?

Rory Bellina (24:50):
And I, and I think the, the, the downfall of all this, no matter where you fall on the, this political spectrum, is that it’s confusing to you and I to the consumer, you know, and I have to think, Okay, I can go out to eat in Orleans Parish, but I have to remember to bring my cart or have the, the, the app ready, but Right. Or I

Conrad Meyer (25:06):
Can go across to Jefferson Parish, I could, I don’t have to have that

Rory Bellina (25:09):
Right. A mile over. I don’t, you know, it, it, it’s, it’s confusing. And then it think of it for, for out of Tanner’s or tourists, Oh man, I’m gonna stay in this hotel. Well, this hotel’s making me have a mandate. Well, the one a mile away isn’t having, having the vaccination, you know, it, it’s confusing. And, and how do you set policies? If you’re a, a nationwide convention or national convention, you’re planning a trip here and you’re gonna get visitors from all over, you know, the place. You have to tell them, Well, you need to be vaccinated if you eat in this parish, but not in this parish. Or you have to wear a mask in this

Conrad Meyer (25:42):
Area of city. I can see that cutting both ways. I could see companies saying, We’re only going to places that have vaccine mandates. Correct. And I can see you going the other place, the other side, uh, of companies saying, Well, we’re only going to places where freedom of choice is allowed.

Rory Bellina (25:54):
Right. Right. And it’s very, it’s very divisive. And, uh, it, it, it’s make, it makes traveling hard. It, it, it opens up a, you know,

Conrad Meyer (26:01):
I’ve gotta tell you, I mean, in, in today’s kind of climate, I mean, another thing to as divisive and, and politically charged as what this has turned out to be. Right. Uh, it’s, it’s just tough.

Rory Bellina (26:13):
It is. It’s very tough. You, you see, um, airlines now, even domestic airlines are requiring vaccinations or negative tests to start flying. Right. I’ve heard that’s the latest. So this is ever evolving. I don’t think we know where it’s gonna go. It’s obviously gonna be tested in the courts.

Conrad Meyer (26:27):
But what I would like to do, Rory, is we’re gonna, as of today, the 20th, let’s table this, I think in a month from now, let’s do a, a, a a a follow up. Yeah, yeah. A recap or follow up on, hey, va, show me your vaccine passport. What’s happened, Uh, and, and in terms of the current state affairs, you know, 30 days from

Rory Bellina (26:46):
Now, I think it’s a great topic. And I think if anyone has any questions, comments, if they want us to address something specific, please, please get in touch with us. We have all of our contact information.

Conrad Meyer (26:54):
And more importantly too, if you have comments, leave ’em in the comments section, you know, uh, in, in on, in the various podcasts. Yep. App. And then if there’s something you do want us to talk about, leave that in the comments section too. Yeah, I mean, it, it helps us decide topical, uh, areas to discuss. So, uh, don’t be afraid to, to, to either leave it in the comments section or drop us along.

Rory Bellina (27:14):
This is a great topic.

Conrad Meyer (27:15):
Excellent. Excellent. Well, there we go. Let’s wrap it up. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you.

Rory Bellina (27:24):
Thank you for listening to Health Law Talk presented by Chehardy Sherman Williams. For more information or to contact us, please visit our website, LinkedIn in the description below. Also, please be sure to subscribe to our podcast and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, in YouTube – links in the description below. Thank you for listening.