HHS Inflates Health Violation Fines for Fairness
Published Date: 1/28/2026
Rule
Summary
The Department of Health and Human Services is raising its civil penalty amounts to keep up with inflation, making sure fines stay fair and effective. These new penalty amounts apply to violations from November 2, 2015, onward and take effect as soon as this rule is published. If you’re involved in health-related regulations, watch out—penalties might be a bit higher now!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
Information‑blocking penalty increase
The civil monetary penalty for information blocking under 300jj‑51 was increased from $1,293,601 (2024) to $1,327,209 (2025). This adjusted amount is effective upon publication (January 28, 2026) and applies to penalties assessed on or after publication if the violation occurred on or after November 2, 2015.
Annual inflation raise for HHS fines
HHS raised many civil monetary penalties by applying the 2025 cost‑of‑living multiplier of 1.02598 to the penalty amounts that were updated for FY2024. The adjusted amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar, take effect upon publication (January 28, 2026), and apply to penalties assessed on or after publication if the violation occurred on or after November 2, 2015.
Higher hospital price‑transparency fines
Penalties for hospitals that fail to make public standard charges for items and services were adjusted. The per‑instance penalty increases from $333 (2024) to $342 (2025), and the per‑day maximum increased from $6,118 (2024) to $6,277 (2025). These adjusted amounts take effect upon publication (January 28, 2026) for applicable violations on or after November 2, 2015.
HIPAA civil penalty increases
HIPAA administrative‑simplification penalties were adjusted upward. For example, the minimum per‑violation tier increased from $141 (2024) to $145 (2025), the maximum per‑violation tier increased from $71,162 (2024) to $73,011 (2025), and the calendar year cap increased from $2,134,831 (2024) to $2,190,294 (2025). These adjustments take effect upon publication (January 28, 2026) for applicable violations on or after November 2, 2015.
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Key Dates
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