{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hassan-cassidy-bill-to-protect-americans-private-health-data-passes-committee", "Hassan, Cassidy Bill to Protect American's Private Health Data Passes Committee", "2026-08-12", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "NH", "Margaret Wood Hassan", "H001076", "www.hassan.senate.gov", "hassan", "https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to protect American\u2019s private health data recently advanced out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The Health Information Privacy Reform Act would expand health privacy protections to account for new technologies that are not currently required to have privacy protections, such as smartwatches and health apps.\n\n\u201cAmericans are increasingly using smartwatches, health rings, and apps to take charge of their health, but our privacy laws haven\u2019t kept up with these new technologies. People deserve to know who has access to their most personal health information and how it's being used and protected,\u201d said Senator Hassan. \u201cThis bipartisan bill will require companies to clearly disclose how they collect and share health information so that people can use these tools without giving up control of their personal data. \u201d\n\n\u201cProtecting patient information is essential to delivering quality care,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy. \u201cSmartwatches and health apps are helpful tools but open the door to privacy concerns that didn\u2019t exist when it was just a patient and a doctor in an exam room. This bipartisan legislation ensures Americans\u2019 data is secure and only collected and used with their consent.\u201d\n\nThe exchange of health data that is shared between patients and health care providers is governed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). However, HIPAA does not currently cover consumer health products that connect individuals to health tools outside of the doctor\u2019s office, like new health tracking devices and applications.\n\nThe Health Information Privacy Reform Act requires health technologies not subject to HIPAA to disclose how consumer information is collected and shared. It also explores how to give consumers\u2019 opportunities to share their health data to support future research and be compensated for their contributions.\n\nRead the full bill text here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-13T06:17:16Z", "2026-08-13T06:18:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-releases/hassan-cassidy-bill-to-protect-americans-private-health-data-passes-committee"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.316236099228263, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}