The Biden administration on Monday announced rules aimed at increasing privacy protections for medical records, including for patients traveling to receive reproductive health services such as abortion in states where they are legal. Officials said the move is aimed at protecting patients and health care providers from legal action.
The final rule released Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services will allow health care providers, health insurance plans, clearinghouses, and their business partners to disclose personal health information to law enforcement and state authorities for investigation and enforcement purposes. It is prohibited to provide. Liability to Persons or Providers.
The new rules build on the long-standing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, which created national standards for protecting patient health information.
“Today's objective is to ensure that Americans who provide very personal and personal health information to their providers know that they have the right to do so,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a press conference Monday. That's true.'' “And if someone tries to extract that from you in a coercive way or in a creative way, please be aware that we can take action.”
Melanie Fontes Reiner, director of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Monday's rule is aimed at increasing privacy protections for women who travel out of state to receive abortions and other reproductive services. . Reiner said that if a woman crosses state lines to get an abortion in a state where abortion is legal, her medical records and information will be protected when she returns to a state where it is illegal.
“Health care providers in the states she traveled to will be protected from people seeking that type of care. This will ensure that women receive care in the face of a patchwork situation. “One of the primary purposes of this rule is to ensure that there are now laws in place across the country,” Reiner said.
Monday's announcement marks the Biden administration's latest attempt to protect access to reproductive services following the June 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, which placed restrictions on abortion. The question of whether and to what extent to restrict abortion was returned to each state, leading to restrictions and bans on abortion practices. All over the country.
President Joe Biden's reelection campaign has made the issue a top priority as the Democratic incumbent seeks another four years in the White House. Democrats believe the issue had a stronger-than-expected showing in the 2022 Congressional midterm elections, with ruby-colored states like Kansas and Ohio, where the issue has appeared on ballots since Roe's reversal. Even voters chose to keep the practice more widely accessible.
Jennifer Klein of the White House Gender Policy Council said Monday's announcement was “an important step forward in our fight to ensure patient privacy and peace of mind.”
“No one should have their medical records used against them, their doctors, or their loved ones just because they sought or received legal reproductive health care,” she added.
Klein, Bekala and Reiner, along with local board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Selina Floyd, made the announcement Monday at Health and Human Services headquarters.
