Opinion & Order In American Hospital Association, Et Al v Xavier Becerra, Et Al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
FORT WORTH DIVISION
 

AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION,
ET AL.,
Plaintiffs,

v.                                                        No. 4:23-cv-01110-P

XAVIER BECERRA, ET AL.,
Defendants.
 

OPINION & ORDER

Before the Court are cross-motions for summary judgment. ECF Nos. 24, 50. Having considered the motions, briefs, and applicable law, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs’ motion (ECF No. 24) and DENIES Defendants’ motion (ECF No. 50).

BACKGROUND

Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) in 1996 because health information needed more protections and the world needed more acronyms. HIPAA seeks to “assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected” while “allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality healthcare.” The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) enforces this mandate. Violations are reported to HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), who investigates reports and recommends corrective action. This case involves HIPAA’s confidentiality protections (the “Privacy Rule”) for “protected health information” (“PHI”). More specifically, the case concerns the Rule’s applicability to one subset of PHI: “individually identifiable health information” (“IIHI”). HIPAA defines IIHI as information that (1) “relates to” an individual’s healthcare and (2) “identifies the individual” or provides “a reasonable basis to believe that the information can be used to identify the individual.” 

View the detailed order below.