Protecting Civil Rights and Access to Health Care

The belief in and commitment to making access to health and human services a reality for everyone—regardless of a person’s sex, race, color, national origin, disability or age—is a cornerstone of our mission at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and why my staff and I have worked hard, day in and day out, to fulfill this mandate.

It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve as part of an Administration which places value on people first, no matter who you are, where you live, or who you love. As a fifth generation Arizonan and Mexican American woman raised by a single mom, that mattered to me and motivated me every day to lead and advocate for people across the country.

Since day one at OCR, we aimed to strengthen protection of civil rights, health information privacy and security, and implement and enforce the law as a top priority—bringing this work outside of Washington, DC, directly to our communities and neighborhoods across the country where it matters the most—visiting 30 states and one territory, to be exact. Because, what good is a right, if you don’t know you have that right, you don’t understand your right, or that right is not being properly prioritized in your community? That’s where OCR’s work comes in and why it is so important. We are here to help ensure that every person across the nation has access to the critical health care and human services that they need, free from discrimination.

OCR’s largest complaint volume comes from individuals who cannot access their medical records. That’s why OCR rigorously enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule’s Right of Access, a critical tool to empower patients to use access and use their own data to drive their health. And no matter which city I was in, West Coast or the Great Plains, language access and effective communication always came up when I talked with patients and providers. People with disabilities would share their stories with me about a hospital that denied them a companion in the emergency room, or how they worked so hard to get accessible medical equipment for their wheelchairs to have an MRI, only to face staff that day who did not know how to use it. Time and again, I heard about appointments canceled because no interpreter was available for a person whose primary language is not English. Or children being forced to interpret for their family member. These quickly became priority areas for us and drove us to create and implement policy changes to address these scenarios people face every day: through the new Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Rule, which we updated for the first time in nearly five decades; or the new Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act Rule, which addresses discrimination throughout HHS health programs and activities; or steering language access across HHS to develop and roll out HHS departmentwide and division-specific language access plans to ensure and expand language access across the health care sector – for the first time in a decade; and more.

One of my proudest achievements was working alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and the Alabama Department of Public Health to improve public health in Lowndes County. There, we witnessed how a lack of sanitation systems contributes to public health concerns, and we are working together with the State to address it. Lowndes County is sacred ground for our nation’s civil rights history; being able to use our civil rights laws to drive change shows the power of our partnership and our joint determination to put communities first. We also worked with the Puerto Rico Department of the Family on changing its practices, training, and work to improve effective communication for children and families in its child welfare system. Our visit enabled us to meet with community members to talk about civil rights and health information privacy and security.

In 2024, OCR resolved 22 HIPAA enforcement actions through settlement agreements and civil monetary penalties, collecting over $9.9 million—second highest completed enforcement actions in OCR history—demonstrating our unwavering commitment to enforcing HIPAA—our nation’s law to protect your health information and secure our health care systems. And just last month, we issued a draft rule to update the HIPAA Security Rule to improve the cybersecurity enforcement, practices, and resiliency of our health care system – a major national security priority amid exponential increase in cyberattacks.

Even as we worked to move OCR forward, when new problems occurred affecting how people receive care, we were ready to do everything we could to help people. In 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, I was at the last abortion clinic in St. Louis, MO, alongside Secretary Becerra. There, we saw in real time the impact of the loss of this important health care right as the clinic we were in scrambled to make changes and inform their patients. Later, I also shared my own story when OCR released its final rule, the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, which will help protect patient confidentiality and promote trust between patients and providers.

As we reflect on our accomplishments, it’s important to remember OCR’s commitment of upholding fairness and justice through the law, from HIPAA to our civil rights laws. If you want to file a complaint about a violation, contact the Office for Civil Rights at 800-368-1019, TDD: 1-800-537-7697, by email at OCRMail@hhs.gov, or visit www.hhs.org/ocr.

It has been an opportunity of a lifetime to serve the American people in this role, and I have been so privileged to work with our mighty civil servants nationwide who day in and day out work for you. Please never forget you are not alone! OCR is here to help.

Melanie

OCR’s Rules:

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act Final Rule

HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy Final Rule

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Final Rule

Health and Human Services Grants Regulation Final Rule

Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records Final Rule

Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience Final Rule

Proposed HIPAA Security Rule

Complaint Filing

If you believe that you or someone else has been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, or if you believe that your or another person's health information privacy or civil rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the HHS OCR at www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints.