Senator Cassidy Extends HIPAA to Consumer Apps (Brace for Compliance Chaos), Medicare Negotiates 15 Drug Prices Down 38-85%, and $50 Billion Rural Health Program Drops With Year-End Deadline

Hey all,

Happy Monday! The rundown returns from its Thanksgiving hiatus. Today we’re examining Senator Cassidy’s plan to extend HIPAA protections to consumer health apps, which sounds reasonable until you remember that HIPAA has spent decades perfecting compliance theater—faxing patient data over phone lines is totally fine, but sending an encrypted email requires navigating a bureaucratic labyrinth. The law has trained an entire industry to prioritize paperwork over actual security, creating massive administrative overhead while failing to prevent the very breaches it was designed to stop. Expanding this framework to wellness apps and consumer health tech promises to deliver exactly what HIPAA always has: expensive compliance rituals, confused implementation, and the illusion of privacy protection

Enjoy the rundown!

Jacob Brody (Co-Founder & CEO, ZorroRX)

(Keeler Substack) Cassidy’s Health Information Privacy Reform Act

 Senator Cassidy’s proposed Health Information Privacy Reform Act aims to extend HIPAA-level protections to health data outside traditional clinical systems, addressing the regulatory gap between medical providers and consumer wellness apps. By redefining the boundary from “covered entities” to “applicable health information,” the bill challenges outdated legal distinctions and offers both patients and consumer health companies clearer rights and responsibilities. Of course, since HIPAA already led to decades of confusing, inconsistent implementation, we can only assume this well-meaning effort will spawn a fresh wave of bureaucratic absurdity at health systems scrambling to interpret it. Full Article.

(WSJ) Medicare Negotiated Drug Prices Announced

The U.S. government has negotiated significant price reductions for 15 high-cost prescription drugs—including Ozempic, Ibrance, and Trelegy—cutting prices by 38% to 85% and potentially saving Medicare $12 billion when the changes take effect in 2027. These negotiations, enabled by the Inflation Reduction Act, aim to curb rising drug costs and reduce patient out-of-pocket spending, though savings will vary by plan and may not fully extend to those with fixed copays. The move marks the second round of Medicare drug pricing reforms, with more drugs slated for negotiation in the coming years. Full Article

(Longyear Health) Rural Health Transformation Program

Robert Longyear breaks down how the newly launched $50 billion Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program marks the largest federal investment in U.S. rural healthcare history, aiming to improve access, quality, and sustainability for 60 million rural Americans. Created to offset anticipated Medicaid cuts and enacted through Public Law 119-21, the program empowers states to propose innovative solutions across areas like workforce development, tech-enabled care, preventative health, and infrastructure upgrades—while prohibiting new construction and emphasizing long-term impact. With awards due by year’s end, this initiative could redefine how underserved communities receive care and serve as a national model for health equity through state-federal collaboration. Full Article