White House reviewing HIPAA cybersecurity updates

The White House’s lead regulatory office is reviewing a proposed rule that would upgrade the cybersecurity protections required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) received the proposed rule on Oct. 18.

The changes to the HIPAA security rule will “improve cybersecurity in the health care sector by strengthening requirements for HIPAA regulated entities to safeguard electronic protected health information to prevent, detect, contain, mitigate, and recover from cybersecurity threats,” according to a rule abstract published by OIRA.

OIRA is charge of reviewing major agency rulemakings before they are published. Once the HIPAA updates clear White House review, the Department of Health and Human Services would be able to release the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for public comment.

Source(s): Federal News Network, received on October 24, 2024; reginfo (abstract), accessed on October 24, 2024.