Proposed Final Rule: HIPAA Privacy Rule & The National Instant Criminal Background Check System

On February 14, 2013, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to amend the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule to remove impediments to state reporting of mental health records to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is used to run background checks of people seeking to purchase firearms. This document, released January 7, 2014, is the proposed final rule to amend the HIPAA privacy rule . . .