How the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Other Privacy Laws Affect Public Transportation Operations

This digest explores whether the privacy and security rules established by HIPAA apply to transit agencies that possess patrons’ health information.The first seven sections of this digest discuss HIPAA and whether various entities are subject to HIPAA’s privacy and security provisions applicable to the protection of protected health information, as defined by HIPAA. It also analyzes how protected health information is defined by HIPAA and discusses HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and Security Rule as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its most recent final rule. The digest also summarizes other important aspects of HIPAA as well.