To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to coordinate to improve cybersecurity in the health care and public health sectors, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill creates a comprehensive framework to improve cybersecurity across the healthcare sector. It requires HHS and CISA to coordinate on cybersecurity efforts, mandates new security standards including multifactor authentication and encryption for health data, and establishes grant programs to help healthcare organizations adopt better cybersecurity practices.
Who Benefits and How
Patients benefit from stronger protections for their health information. Healthcare providers, especially rural and under-resourced facilities, can receive grants to upgrade cybersecurity systems, hire security personnel, and migrate to cloud platforms. Cybersecurity firms and consultants benefit from increased demand for services. Healthcare organizations with strong security practices may face reduced regulatory penalties.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Hospitals, health centers, and other covered entities must implement mandatory multifactor authentication, encryption, and conduct penetration testing - significant compliance costs. Business associates handling health data face the same requirements. HHS must develop new guidance, incident response plans, and grant programs. Organizations must report additional breach information publicly.
Key Provisions
- Mandates multifactor authentication and encryption for systems with protected health information
- Creates grants (up to 3 years) for health centers, hospitals, and rural clinics to adopt cybersecurity best practices
- Requires HHS to develop cybersecurity incident response plan within 1 year
- Enhances breach reporting portal with corrective action and security practices information
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Improve cybersecurity in the healthcare and public health sectors by requiring coordination between HHS and CISA, establishing mandatory security standards, creating grant programs, and enhancing breach reporting requirements.
Key Policy Areas
Cybersecurity, Healthcare, Public Health, Technology
Primary Purpose
Improve cybersecurity in the healthcare and public health sectors by requiring coordination between HHS and CISA, establishing mandatory security standards, creating grant programs, and enhancing breach reporting requirements.
Policy Domains
Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2024
Identified Gains
- Patients (health data protection)
- Rural healthcare facilities
- Cybersecurity vendors and consultants
- Healthcare organizations with strong security posture
Identified Costs
- Hospitals and health systems
- Business associates handling health data
- HHS (new programs and guidance)
- Small healthcare providers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Cassidy (for himself, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Academic health centers, Business associates (health IT vendors, billing companies), Covered entities (hospitals, health systems)
Positive-direction: Academic health centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Healthcare facility IT staff, Healthcare organizations with strong cybersecurity practices, Healthcare sector entities, Hospitals and cancer centers, Indian Health Service facilities, Rural health clinics, Rural healthcare facilities
Negative-direction: Business associates (health IT vendors, billing companies), Covered entities (hospitals, health systems), Covered entities experiencing breaches, Hospitals and health systems
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, CISA, HHS
Cybersecurity vendors, Healthcare cybersecurity professionals, IT and cybersecurity consultants
Healthcare consumers/patients, Patients
Educational institutions with cybersecurity programs
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_agency"
- → Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Critical infrastructure sector as defined in Presidential Policy Directive 21
Has the meaning given such term in section 2200 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
Has the meaning given the term 'incident' in section 3552 of title 44, United States Code
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology