Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

Office for Civil Rights (OCR) – Federal civil rights laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, together protect your fundamental rights of nondiscrimination and privacy. Civil Rights help to protect you from unfair treatment or discrimination, because of your race, color, national origin, disability, age, gender, or religion. Federal laws also provide conscience protections for health care providers. The Privacy Rule protects the privacy of your health information; it says who can look at and/or receive your health information, and also gives you specific rights over that information.