House Approves One-Year Delay for HIPAA Transactions Compliance

The House on Dec. 3 approved a bill ( HR 3323) that would delay the compliance deadline for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act transactions and code set regulations until October 2003, Health Privacy News reports. The legislation would require health plans and health care providers to submit a proposal to HHS by October 2002 that outlines their plans to meet HIPAA standards, including information on budgets, schedules, work plans and implementation strategies. The requirement, however, would not apply to some small health plans. The Senate late last month approved a bill (S 1684) that also would delay the compliance deadline by one year (Health Privacy News, 12/5). House and Senate staff members have not reconciled the "very different" versions of the legislation. According to Tom Gilligan, executive director of the Association for Electronic Health Care Transactions, supporters of the legislation hope to pass the bill this year, as early as Dec. 7. The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Federation of American Hospitals oppose the delay (HIPAAdvisory, 11/28). On Sept. 26, the groups sent letter to congressional leaders and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson that said a delay would unfairly penalize hospitals and health systems that have worked to meet the October 2002 compliance deadline (AHA News, 11/29). Neither the House nor the Senate bill includes language that would delay the April 2003 compliance deadline for HIPAA privacy rules (Health Privacy News, 12/5).