On March 5, 2003, the draft version of the Illinois HIPAA Preemption Analysis was completed and released by the state. The comment period for the Preemption Analysis was recently concluded on May 30, 2003, and, although there has been no guidance issued on when the final version will be available, it is not anticipated that there will be any significant modifications or new developments to the draft version. The purpose of this Client Alert is not to review the methodology by which the HIPAA preemption process is conducted in general, nor to set forth each and every instance where the Preemption Analysis asserts that an Illinois statute is "more stringent"1 than the HIPAA2 privacy rule3 . Rather, highlighted below are the Illinois acts or statutes under which some of the more significant preemption issues have been raised, including certain instances in which aspects of Illinois law may be more stringent than the Privacy Rule.
