The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established exemptions from certain requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for health care messages regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Although this exemption initially appears to give health care providers broad latitude in calling or texting patients, there is ambiguity as to the scope of the exemption. Specifically, the TCPA exemption applies to ‘‘health care’’ messages regulated under HIPAA, but HIPAA does not expressly define ‘‘health care’’ messages. The different uses of terminology may create confusion for providers and health insurers.

TCPA and the ‘Health Care’ Messages Exemption -

In general, the TCPA prohibits entities from making certain types of calls to consumers without their consent. Specifically, the TCPA prohibits calls and text messages (collectively referred to as ‘‘calls’’) transmitted to a consumer’s mobile device using an autodialer, as well as prerecorded messages placed to a landline, without the recipient’s prior consent. In enacting the TCPA, Congress intended to protect consumers’ privacy in their home and on their mobile phone by banning autodialed and prerecorded marketing calls and to provide them with the ability to control from whom they receive such calls.

Originally published in Privacy & Security Law Report on October 13, 2014.