DHHS Issuing Proposed Rule On HIPAA Enforcement on April 18, 2005

The American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) is reporting today that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued the final installment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Enforcement Rule on the imposition of civil money penalties for violations of the standards promulgated under HIPAA's Administrative Simplification provisions.

The proposed rule would make existing rules related to HIPAA enforcement applicable to all Administrative Simplification rules, not just the Privacy Standards.

The proposed rule completes the Enforcement Rule by addressing, among other things, the investigation process, bases for liability, determination of the penalty amount, grounds for waiver, conduct of the hearing, and the appeals process. Comments on the proposed rule are due sixty days after its publication in the Federal Register.

A full copy of proposed rule can be found via today's Federal Register here. You can also obtain a copy of the proposed rule at the Office for Civil Right, DHHS website here: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/enforNPRM.pdf.