HIPAA Privacy And Security Compliance For Group Health Plan Sponsors

Introduction

This report focuses on the final regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA),¹ in January 2013,² HIPAA enforcement and audit programs, HIPAA-related additional requirements of group health plan sponsors, and the actions that must be taken by group health plan sponsors to ensure compliance with the final regulations and requirements and to prepare for potential audits and enforcement actions.³

The HIPAA privacy and security rules govern the use and disclosure of an individual's protected health information, or PHI.⁴ The final HIPAA regulations made many changes to the existing HIPAA privacy and security rules that are applicable to covered entities, which include group health plans.⁵