HIPAA

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) has released its 2026 Unified Agenda, which identifies regulatory actions that federal agencies expect to propose or finalize during the remainder of the year.  Below, we highlight several notable health privacy, interoperability, and data exchange rules that the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) has listed for proposed or final action in 2026.  The descriptions and target dates below reflect only the agency’s stated intentions and are subject to change.

Continue Reading OMB Publishes 2026 Unified Agenda Signaling Upcoming Health Privacy and Interoperability Updates from HHS

On June 19, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated the majority of the Biden Administration rule (the “2024 Rule”) modifying the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) regarding protected health information (“PHI”) concerning reproductive health.  As discussed in further detail in our previous blog post, the 2024 Rule “limit[ed] the circumstances in which provisions of the Privacy Rule permit the use or disclosure of an individual’s PHI about reproductive health care for certain non-health care purposes.” 

Continue Reading District Court Enjoins Privacy Rule Modifications Regarding Reproductive Health Care
On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “proposed rule”), which proposes a number of significant updates to the HIPAA Security Rule.  According to OCR’s announcement, the proposed rule seeks to “improve cybersecurity and better protect the U.S. health care system from a growing number of cyberattacks” and “better align the Security Rule with modern best practices in cybersecurity.” The preamble states that the proposed rule seeks to address common areas of non-compliance with the Security Rule identified by OCR in its recent investigations, as well as build on recommendations from the National Committee on Vital Health Statistics and guidelines and best practices recommended by other parts of the government, such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Below, we provide a brief summary of the proposed changes. The proposed rule is open for comment until March 7, 2025. Continue Reading HHS Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Update the HIPAA Security Rule

On September 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (“HHS OCR”) announced that it had settled its cybersecurity investigation with Cascade Eye and Skin Centers, P.C. (“Cascade”), a privately-owned health care provider in Washington.  For background, HHS OCR is responsible for administering and enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and its implementing regulations, which include the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules (collectively, “HIPAA”).  Among other things, HIPAA requires that regulated entities take steps to protect the privacy and security of patients’ protected health information (“PHI”).

Continue Reading HHS OCR Settles Ransomware Cybersecurity Investigation for $250,000

On March 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“HHS OCR”) updated its “Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates” guidance addressing how regulated entities may use tracking technologies on their websites and mobile applications in a manner compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended, and its implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).  The guidance, originally published in December 2022, states that HIPAA-regulated entities are not permitted to leverage tracking technologies in ways that would result in an impermissible disclosure of protected health information (“PHI”) or other violation of HIPAA.  The guidance also emphasizes the importance of safeguarding PHI and notes that regulated entities may not share PHI with tracking technology vendors (e.g., third-party advertisers) absent a business associate agreement (“BAA”) with the vendor or pursuant to a patient authorization. 

Continue Reading HHS OCR Updates Tracking Technologies Guidance

On February 21, 2024, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) Committee, issued a white paper, “Strengthening Health Data Privacy for Americans: Addressing the Challenges of the Modern Era”, which proposes several updates to the privacy protections for health data. This follows Senator Cassidy’s September 2023 request for information from stakeholders about how to enhance health data privacy protections covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) framework and to consider privacy protections for other sources of health data not currently covered by HIPAA. The white paper notes that several entities, including trade associations, hospitals, health technology companies, and think tanks, responded to the RFI.

Continue Reading Senator Cassidy Issues White Paper with Proposals to Update Health Data Privacy Framework – Part 1: Updates to the HIPAA Framework

On February 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a final rule to amend the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (“SUD”) Patient Records regulations (“Part 2”) to more closely align Part 2 with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and…

Continue Reading HHS Publishes Final Rule to Align Part 2 and HIPAA

On February 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), published a notice requesting comment on an upcoming information request.  Specifically, OCR invites comments regarding its burden estimate for a “HIPAA Audit Review Survey.”  The Survey consists of “39 online survey questions” and…

Continue Reading HHS OCR Requests Comments on HIPAA Audit Review Survey

On February 6, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), announced that it had settled a cybersecurity investigation with Montefiore Medical Center (“Montefiore”), a non-profit hospital system based in New York City, for $4.75 million.  As brief background, OCR is responsible for administering and enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and its implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”).  Among other things, HIPAA requires that regulated entities take steps to protect the privacy and security of patients’ protected health information (“PHI”).

Continue Reading HHS Settles Malicious Insider Cybersecurity Investigation for $4.75 Million

On September 15, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced an updated joint publication describing the privacy and security laws and rules that impact consumer health data.  Specifically, the “Collecting, Using, or Sharing Consumer Health Information? Look to HIPAA, the FTC Act, and the Health Breach Notification Rule” guidance provides an overview of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended, and the implementing regulations issued by HHS (collectively “HIPAA”); the FTC Act; and the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule (“HBNR”) and how they may apply to businesses.  This joint guidance follows a recent surge of FTC enforcement in the health privacy space.  We offer below a high-level summary of the requirements flagged by the guidance.

Continue Reading FTC and HHS Announce Updated Health Privacy Publication