News & Insights

Public health agencies often find access to substance use disorder (SUD) data records especially challenging. Through the CARES Act, Congress harmonizes certain provisions of HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 —both of which governs disclosure of SUD records —and requires that HHS continue these efforts through rulemaking.

A notice of proposed changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule was recently issued to bolster the privacy of protected health information (PHI) relating to reproductive health care. The proposed changes are the latest in a series of steps by the Biden administration addressing privacy of reproductive health information following the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision last summer. This post takes a closer look at the proposed changes to HIPAA.

With the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, reporting of certain data to CDC, and consequently some data analytics and surveillance provided by CDC, will no longer be available after May 11. The impact of these changes means that the public will no longer see certain metrics from CDC, such as color-coded transmission levels and community maps. More broadly, it means a less centralized approach to COVID-19 data collection and reporting to the public and a return to the fragmented public health system where states and localities exercise their own legal authority.

Before becoming a human rights activist, physician and lawyer, and a career that included leadership of projects and programs in over 30 countries, Dr. Gupta had her first advocacy win at age seven. Dr. Gupta shares insights from her remarkable journey in social justice, and how she gained a multifaceted perspective on the interplay between health, equity, social justice, and law and policy.

Medicaid access has long been identified as a weakness of the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs. A number of new regulations released by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services aim to improve access to care. The rules make changes to both fee-for-service and managed care systems, with additional provisions to advance health equity and improve home and community-based services.

Wayne County Michigan, which encompasses the City of Detroit, has a large population of residents of color and also faces some of the state’s most significant challenges. Recently, the county has taken significant measures to address acknowledged disparities in health outcomes, creating Regional Health Equity Advisory Councils, a Black Leadership Council, and committing $300 million to support more than 100 programs to further positive, systemic change.

Wayne County Michigan, which encompasses the City of Detroit, has a large population of residents of color and also faces some of the state’s most significant challenges. Recently, the county has taken significant measures to address acknowledged disparities in health outcomes, creating Regional Health Equity Advisory Councils, a Black Leadership Council, and committing $300 million to support more than 100 programs to further positive, systemic change.

Wayne County Michigan, which encompasses the City of Detroit, has a large population of residents of color and also faces some of the state’s most significant challenges. Recently, the county has taken significant measures to address acknowledged disparities in health outcomes, creating Regional Health Equity Advisory Councils, a Black Leadership Council, and committing $300 million to support more than 100 programs to further positive, systemic change.

In May 2021, Washington state passed a law that, among other changes, re-classified drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor and required law enforcement officers to refer individuals to treatment at least twice before making an arrest. The law, which expires on July 1, 2023, also created the Substance Use Recovery Services Advisory Committee (SURSAC) to research best practices, create a statewide plan, and advise state lawmakers. Lawmakers are now considering whether to implement SURSAC’s 17 recommendations.

Laws banning or heavily restricting students who are transgender from playing on athletic teams with students of the same gender are increasing, as are challenges to such laws. Human rights advocates are closely watching as one case, B.P.J. v. West Virginia, proceeds through the courts. The case’s outcome may influence the course of similar legal challenges across the country.

Compared to White women, women of color in the U.S. are more likely to be uninsured, live in areas without easy access to contraception, and lack resources necessary to cover health care costs. Consequently, the legal impacts of the overturning of Roe vs Wade have predominantly fallen on pregnancy-capable individuals of color. Despite current serious limitations on access, several states have recently taken important steps toward reproductive justice through the adoption of key health policies.

The Network is pleased to announce the appointments of Carrie Waggoner, J.D. and Colleen Healy Boufides, J.D. as the new Director and Co-Director of our Mid-States Region Office. They will jointly will lead the Mid-States team of law and policy experts in their ongoing work to support capacity building to public health departments and other entities to advance laws and policies that center equity, particularly in public health data sharing. Read the full announcement.