March 22, 2001

The Honorable Richard Cheney
President of the Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. President:

I am pleased to transmit our Fourth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Administrative Simplification Provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In compliance with Section 263, Subtitle F of Public Law 104-191, the report was developed by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the public advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on health data, privacy, and health information policy, and covers the period January - December 2000.

The Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt a variety of standards to support electronic interchange for administrative and financial health care transactions, including standards for security and privacy to protect individually identifiable health information. In addition, the statute gives expanded responsibilities to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, including advising the Secretary on health information privacy and on the adoption of health data standards. The Committee is further directed to submit an annual report to Congress on the status of implementation of the Administrative Simplification effort. The fourth annual report is enclosed.

As described in our enclosed report, significant progress occurred on HIPAA Administrative Simplification during the past year, HHS issued two final rules, one describing standards for transactions and code sets, and the other outlining standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information. Progress also continued on the adoption of the remaining suite of administrative simplification standards. NCVHS applauds these accomplishments and reaffirms the importance of the HIPAA administrative simplification initiative for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system in the U.S. The full economic benefits of Administrative Simplification will only be realized when all of the standards are in place, and implementation activities and resource planning in the industry will be more effective when the entire suite of standards is finalized. Accordingly, we urge the Secretary of HHS to expedite the publication of the remaining rules, and urge Congress to provide sufficient resources and support.

We hope that you will find this fourth annual report informative and look forward to continued progress on these important issues for the nation's health system. If you or your staff would like a briefing presentation on any of our past or anticipated activities, please let me know. We are committed to improvements in health information systems that will enhance the quality of health care, lower costs, and facilitate access to care in the U.S.

Sincerely,

John R. Lumpkin, M.D.
Chairman

Enclosure

Identical letters to:

The Honorable Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable XXXXX
Chairman
Committee on Finance
219 Senate Dirksen Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable James Jeffords
Chairman
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
428 Senate Dirksen Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable William Archer
Chairman
Committee on Ways and Means
U.S. House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable XXXXX
Chairman
Committee on Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable William Goodling
Chairman
Committee on Education and the Workforce
U.S. House of Representatives
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515