May 17 at 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern
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Dear Tribal Leader Letter

On April 17, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Pub. L. 104–191, as it relates to reproductive health. The Privacy Rule governs the disclosure and use of patient information and safeguards the privacy of protected health information (PHI), subject to certain exemptions. OCR is proposing regulatory changes to prohibit the disclosure or use of PHI for limited purposes in connection with obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive healthcare. These include a prohibition on disclosures or use of such PHI for criminal, civil, or administrative investigations, among others.

OCR is consulting with Tribal Nations on the proposed rulemaking. A virtual Tribal consultation will take place on May 17 from 2:00 – 3:30pm ET. Tribal leaders may register HERE for the virtual portion. During the consultation, OCR will share information about the proposed regulatory changes and will receive input from Tribal Nations on their HIPAA Privacy Rule concerns and priorities as they relate to reproductive healthcare. The  attached Dear Tribal Leader Letter contains further information, as well as guidelines for submitting comments on the proposed rulemaking, which are due June 16 through www.regulations.gov (-> click.connect.hhs.gov) (Docket OCR-0945-AA20).

Please contact Devin Delrow, Acting Principal Advisor for Tribal Affairs, at (202) 868-0013 or at consultation@hhs.gov with any questions about this Tribal Consultation.