Office of the Secretary October 30, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopts this interim final rule to conform the enforcement regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to the effective statutory revisions made pursuant to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the HITECH Act), which was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). More specifically, this interim final rule amends HIPAA's enforcement regulations, as they relate to the imposition of civil money penalties, to incorporate the HITECH Act's categories of violations, tiered ranges of civil money penalty amounts, and revised limitations on the Secretary's authority to impose civil money penalties for established violations of HIPAA's Administrative Simplification rules (HIPAA rules). This interim final rule does not make amendments with respect to those enforcement provisions of the HITECH Act that are not yet effective under the applicable statutory provisions. Such amendments will be subject to forthcoming rulemaking(s).

In accordance with section 2330a of Title 10 United States Code as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (NDAA 08) section 807, the Acting Chief Functional Officer for Acquisition Management and Support Directorate (AM&S), TRICARE Management Activity, in coordination with the Office of the Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy, Office of Strategic Sourcing (DPAP/SS) will make available to the public the first inventory of activities performed pursuant to contracts for services. The inventory will be published to the TMA Web site at the following location: https://www.tricare.mil/contracting/healthcare/default.aspx.

In compliance with section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs announces a proposed public information collection and seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.