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Jun 7 2011
Office of Civil Rights imposes $5.3 million in fines for HIPAA privacy rule violations | Employee Benefits
Author(s): Blitman & King LLP
Tags: Albany Law | Department of Health and Human Services | Employee Benefits | Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act | HIPAA | HSS | Individual Employment | Lawyers | Legal Counsel | Litigation Law | New York Law | OCR | Office for Civil Rights | Syracuse Lawyers
In an unprecedented enforcement action, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently imposed a $4.3 million civil monetary fine and reached a $1 million settlement as punishment for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). The $4.3 million fine was the first civil money penalty issued by HHS for HIPAA Privacy Rule violations and may signify a change by HHS and OCR to enforce violations with a more heavy‐handed approach.