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The U.S. Senate Health, Education, and Labor (HELP) Committee advanced the bipartisan Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act, legislation aimed at revamping cybersecurity practices at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The bill would require the HHS Secretary to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity incident response plan and submit it to Congress for review, and it would direct HHS to coordinate with CISA on oversight of cybersecurity across the public health and healthcare sectors. Additional provisions include developing cybersecurity guidance for rural healthcare providers and initiatives to improve cybersecurity literacy across the healthcare workforce.
Lawmakers cited the 2024 Change Healthcare incident as a key catalyst, arguing it demonstrated the sector’s exposure to ransomware and other cyber threats and the systemic risk created by concentrated third-party dependencies. The measure would also designate HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) as the Sector Risk Management Agency for the Healthcare and Public Health sectors. CyberScoop reported the bill passed committee on a 22–1 vote, with Sen. Rand Paul as the lone dissenter, and sponsors including Sen. Bill Cassidy along with Sens. Maggie Hassan, Mark Warner, and John Cornyn.
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The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee advanced the bipartisan Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act on a 22-1 vote. The bill would require HHS to develop an incident response plan, coordinate with CISA, update HIPAA cybersecurity requirements, support rural providers, improve workforce cyber literacy, and create grants for healthcare entities.
Lawmakers cited the 2024 Change Healthcare cyberattack as a key catalyst for federal healthcare cybersecurity reform, pointing to ransomware, cybercriminal, nation-state threats, and third-party concentration risk in the sector.
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The US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (**HELP**) Committee advanced the bipartisan **Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act** by a 22–1 vote, proposing new baseline cybersecurity requirements for HIPAA-regulated entities. Reported measures include **multifactor authentication**, **data encryption**, **penetration testing**, and **regular security audits**, alongside changes to breach reporting such as requiring entities to report the number of individuals affected and directing HHS to publish post-breach corrective actions and recognized security practices used by the impacted organization. In parallel, HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (**ONC**) proposed reducing health IT certification criteria—cutting from 60 to 34 and modifying seven others—including criteria tied to **privacy and security controls**. Healthcare industry groups (including **CHIME** and the **American Hospital Association**) warned that removing longstanding certification requirements would shift privacy and security compliance burden from health IT developers (e.g., EHR and patient engagement tool vendors) to healthcare providers, potentially weakening standardized security expectations across certified health IT products.
Jun 29, 2026
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has reintroduced the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2025, which aims to enhance cybersecurity protections in the healthcare sector. The proposed legislation includes provisions for updating HIPAA privacy and security regulations, increasing cyber grant funding, expanding workforce training, and improving breach notification requirements. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to coordinate efforts to bolster the sector's cyber resilience, reflecting growing concern over the frequency and impact of healthcare data breaches. In parallel, healthcare organizations are reviewing their password management practices to ensure compliance with existing HIPAA Security Rule requirements. While HIPAA does not mandate specific password policies, it expects organizations to implement reasonable procedures for password creation, changes, and protection, as outlined in 45 CFR 164.308(a)(5)(ii)(D). Guidance from HHS and NIST, particularly NIST SP 800-66r2, provides technical recommendations for authentication management and credential safeguarding, underscoring the importance of robust password management in protecting protected health information (PHI).
Jun 29, 2026
The US Department of Health and Human Services (**HHS**) is increasing scrutiny of **third-party service provider** cybersecurity in the healthcare sector following the 2024 **Change Healthcare** cyberattack, which HHS officials describe as having threatened the “liquidity” of the broader healthcare system. HHS’s Charlee Hess (Administration for Strategy Preparedness and Response) said the incident exposed previously underappreciated systemic risk from external vendors that can have outsized sector-wide impact, and noted HHS is working through a methodology—alongside industry—to identify where those critical third-party dependencies and risk concentrations exist. Reporting reiterated that the Change Healthcare intrusion began with attackers exploiting the lack of **multi-factor authentication (MFA)** on a remote access portal and ultimately exposed data affecting roughly **190 million** people. The breach has also driven broader government and industry responses, including proposals for mandatory cybersecurity requirements on hospitals (which healthcare organizations have opposed as burdensome, arguing the Change Healthcare compromise originated with an external vendor) and remediation actions by **UnitedHealth Group** (Change Healthcare’s parent) to “start over” on aspects of its systems and technology environment.
Jun 29, 2026