Seyfarth Synopsis: In the wake of a recent federal District Court decision, the reproductive health care HIPAA Privacy rules finalized during the Biden Administration have been vacated and plan sponsors should re-evaluate the language included in their HIPAA compliance documents.
In a somewhat unsurprising turn of events, a Texas District Court vacated the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (Final Rule) that added specific protections and obligations relating to reproductive health data under the HIPAA Privacy rules. In Purl v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. District Court for the North District of Texas held that the Final Rule exceeded the Department of Health and Human Services' statutory authority, specifically noting the Department unlawfully tried to restrict and preempt state laws relating to public health, reporting obligations, and more. Although Covered Entities must continue to protect reproductive health information under the standard federal protections HIPAA affords to protected health information, the heightened restrictions and obligations imposed by the Final Rule on reproductive health care data will no longer be enforced nationwide. However, although the reproductive health care data requirements were vacated, the District Court left in place specific requirements relating to substance use disorder records under Part 2.
Plan Sponsor and Covered Entity Considerations
Given that the ruling is unlikely to be challenged by the Department under the current administration, Plan Sponsors and Covered Entities should review their HIPAA Privacy Policy, HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, business associate agreements, and any other related HIPAA Privacy documentation to determine whether any updates are needed. Plan sponsors that added language to their documentation relating to reproductive health care protections to comply with the Final Rule should evaluate whether this language should now be removed. Reach out to your trusted Seyfarth employee benefits attorney if you have compliance questions.
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