Senate passes Health Care Cybersecurity and Resilience Act

The Senate passed the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resilience Act on Sept. 30 by unanimous consent. The bipartisan bill seeks to improve coordination between Department of Health and Human Services and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to strengthen responses to cyberattacks in healthcare. The legislation also requires the HHS Secretary to develop a cybersecurity incident response plan. The AHA commented on the bill Sept. 15 in a statement to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, saying that "third parties handling health information should be held to the same privacy and security standards as covered entities and business associates."