For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
kbroadway@health-innovation.org
Washington, D.C. – The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) provided comments on the proposed rule to modify the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR).
The FTC’s proposed rule, as written, is an overreach of the agency’s authority that will create confusion and could lead to weaker patient privacy. In addition to being so broad that your local store could fall under the rule, it creates conflict with current privacy legislation and regulations. In our comments, HIA calls for:
- Instituting consistent and reliable privacy policies
- Ensuring regulations do not impede the development of new treatments and the care of patients
- Guaranteeing any privacy policies do not conflict with HIPAA and other existing privacy laws and regulations
“The FTC should scrap this proposed rule and work within their current authorities to protect patient privacy,” said Brett Meeks, Executive Director of HIA. “Doctors, patients, and even technology companies deserve clear and consistent rules on the privacy and security of health information. This proposal is great for the attorneys who will sue to overthrow it if it is finalized and bad for everyone else – especially patients.”