The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights, issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to strengthen Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule protections by prohibiting the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) to investigate or prosecute patients, providers, and others involved in the provision of legal reproductive health care, including abortion care. HHS has heard from patients, providers, and organizations representing thousands of individuals that this change is needed to protect patient-provider confidentiality and prevent private medical records from being used against people for merely seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care.
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