Office for Civil Rights Announces Final Rule to Strengthen Reproductive Health Care Privacy
Lexology May 10, 2024
On April 22, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule, entitled ‘HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy’.
1. Objective and Rationale.
The primary objective of the Biden-Harris Administration is to strengthen the existing Health Insurance Portability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule by prohibiting disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to lawful reproductive health care in a few circumstances.
This becomes particularly important in light of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that took away the constitutional right to abortion allowing states to ban abortion. Since the 2022 decision, HHS has noticed that there are...