On June 18, 2025, the United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, vacated the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (Final Rule) with nationwide effect. In doing so, HIPAA Covered Entities, including self-funded health plan sponsors, are no longer required to implement additional protections for reproductive health care records or update their Notice of Privacy Practices to include language addressing those (now vacated) protections. However, the court did leave in certain provisions of the Final Rule that implement changes to health plan sponsor’s Notice of Privacy Practices regulations regarding substance use disorder records.
Even with this change, it is important to remember that all medical records, including reproductive health medical records, are subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rules and should be protected accordingly.
If you have any questions about this or anything regarding HIPAA, feel free to contact MedBen’s Director of Compliance & Human Resources Erin Kelly.