By Jennifer Archie and Suan Ambler-Ebersole

Second Highest HIPAA Settlement Amount to Date and First Paid by a State

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced Tuesday that it had reached a settlement with Alaska’s state Medicaid agency, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) for $1,700,000 arising out of potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule.

In October 2009 a…