HHS Issues Proposed Modifications to HIPAA Rules - July 20, 2010

On July 14, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its notice of proposed rulemaking for changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The proposed rule principally aims at extending HIPAA compliance and enforcement to business associates, pursuant to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The rule would also extend such requirements to subcontractors. In addition, the rule establishes that if covered entities and business associates have existing business associate contracts that comply with prior provisions of HIPAA, and such contracts are not renewed or modified prior to enactment of the final regulations, the entities will have one year following enactment to revise their business associate agreement. The deadline for comments on the proposed rule is September 13, 2010.