Since the HHS Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) publication of a proposed rule to overhaul the HIPAA Security Rule in January 2025, many in the health care and privacy community have wondered whether the rule would quietly fade away. Some even hoped it might be “dead in the water.” However, despite sharp criticisms and industry […]
HIPAA
New Law Requires HHS to Consider Recognized Security Practices as Mitigating Factor When Determining Penalties
On January 5, 2021, the president signed into law H.R. 7898, an Act that amends the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to consider specific recognized security practices of covered entities and business associates when making certain determinations regarding fines, penalties, […]
White Paper on Privacy Issues in Proposed New National Medical Claims Database
Prof. Peter Swire, Elizabeth and Thomas Holder Chair at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and Senior Counsel at Alston & Bird, has published a new white paper on “Possible Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Breach issues in the Proposed National Medical Claims Database Under Section 303 of S. 1895.” Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray […]
Anthem Settles Data Breach Litigation for Record-Setting $115M
Health insurance giant Anthem, Inc. agreed to the largest data breach settlement to-date last week, ending multi-district consumer litigation over a 2015 data breach for $115 million. The data breach, which resulted from a hacker-orchestrated cyberattack following the theft of an employee password, exposed personally identifiable information (“PII”) and protected health information (“PHI”) of nearly […]
Advocate Health Care Network Agrees to Pay $5.55 Million to Settle Potential HIPAA Penalties
On August 4, 2016, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that Advocate Health Care Network (“Advocate”), Illinois’ largest fully-integrated health care system, has agreed to pay a record-breaking $5.55 million to settle claims of multiple Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) violations involving electronic protected health information (“ePHI”). The substantial settlement stems from […]