DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

HHS exercises enforcement discretion and reduces maximum civil penalties

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Dissent

Those who want to see HHS/OCR come down like a ton of bricks on more entities and impose heavier civil monetary penalties for HIPAA breaches will likely not be happy to learn that HHS has decided to reduce the maximum civil penalties it will impose for the four tiers of violations of HIPAA.

Under the system until now, penalties have been capped this way:

Table 1: Penalty tiers under the Enforcement Rule

Culpability Minimum Penalty/Violation Maximum Penalty/Violation Annual Limit
No Knowledge $100 $50,000 $1,500,000
Reasonable Cause $1,000 $50,000 $1,500,000
Willful Neglect – Corrected $10,000 $50,000 $1,500,000
Willful Neglect – Not Corrected $50,000 $50,000 $1,500,000

Under the revised system, the penalties are capped as shown in Table 2, below:

Table 2: Penalty Tiers under Notification of Enforcement Discretion
Culpability Minimum Penalty/Violation Maximum Penalty/Violation Annual Limit
No Knowledge $100 $50,000 $25,000
Reasonable Cause $1,000 $50,000 $1oo,000
Willful Neglect – Corrected $10,000 $50,000 $250,000
Willful Neglect – Not Corrected $50,000 $50,000 $1,500,000

HHS’s notification, which will be published in the Federal Register on April 30, explains their reasoning and justification for exercising their discretion in this way.  I’ve reproduced the notification, below.

2019-08530
Category: Breach IncidentsCommentaries and AnalysesFederalLegislationOf Note

Post navigation

← University of Alaska discovered a breach in February, 2018 that they are first revealing now?
AU: Centrelink privacy breach ‘horrendous’ →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • CoinMarketCap Hacked, Scrambles to Remove Malicious Wallet Verification Popup
  • Montana Attorney General launches investigation into Lee Enterprises data breach
  • AT&T gets preliminary approval for $177 million data breach settlement
  • Aflac notifies SEC of breach suspected to be work of Scattered Spider
  • Former JBLM soldier pleads guilty to attempting to share military secrets with China
  • No, the 16 billion credentials leak is not a new data breach — a wake-up call about fake news (Updated)
  • Tonga’s health system hit by cyberattack (1)
  • Russia Expert Falls Prey to Elite Hackers Disguised as US Officials
  • Proposed class action settlement in In re Netgain Technology litigation
  • Qilin Offers “Call a lawyer” Button For Affiliates Attempting To Extort Ransoms From Victims Who Won’t Pay

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • The Markup caught 4 more states sharing personal health data with Big Tech
  • Privacy in the Big Sky State: Montana’s Consumer Privacy Law Gets Amended
  • UK Passes Data Use and Access Regulation Bill
  • Officials defend Liberal bill that would force hospitals, banks, hotels to hand over data
  • US Judge Invalidates Biden Rule Protecting Privacy for Abortions
  • DOJ’s Data Security Program: Key Compliance Considerations for Impacted Entities
  • 23andMe fined £2.31 million for failing to protect UK users’ genetic data

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.