Texas To Give Industry 60 Days To Prepare Privacy Mailings

Regulators will post the emergency rules on the Texas department Web site, at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us

Around the same time, the department will also publish proposed financial privacy rules for public comment, Montemayor says.

The Texas Legislature also enacted a health privacy bill, S.B. 11. The health privacy bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2002, requires the insurance commissioner to adopt personal health information privacy rules based on the NAIC health privacy model regulation. The rules also must be consistent with privacy regulations developed to implement the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Montemayor says.

The federal health privacy regulations took effect April 13, but the federal government says it will not begin enforcing the regulations until April 13, 2003.

If the federal HIPAA privacy regulations change, the Texas department will build the changes into its own health privacy rules, Montemayor says.