As abortion access is debated within the United States, concerns have risen over the ability to protect patient privacy. The Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to safeguard patient privacy at the third meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access with Vice President Harris. The administration announced actions to:
Strengthen reproductive health privacy under HIPAA. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to strengthen privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This rule would prohibit doctors, other health care providers and health plans from disclosing individuals’ protected health information, including information related to reproductive health care, under certain circumstances. Specifically, the rule would prevent an individual’s information from being disclosed to investigate, sue or prosecute an individual, a health care provider or a loved one simply because that person sought, obtained, provided or facilitated legal reproductive health care, including abortion.