Theresa Defino reports:
Compared to other agencies, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a little fish in the big federal pond, but it has an outsize effect on HIPAA covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs). And, if Congress agrees, its impact would expand significantly in the coming months.
As part of its 2023 fiscal year (FY) budget, which would begin Oct. 1, OCR has requested a 55% increase in its overall funding, for a total of $60.2 million.[1] It also would like to boost its total staffing by 91 new employees, an increase of 64%. While some of the funds would be devoted to enforcement of civil rights laws, much would support hiring additional investigators and tackling OCR’s backlog of complaints, including those alleging HIPAA violations.
But on top of requesting more money, OCR wants more muscle…
Read more at COSMOS.