HIPAA violation penalties for privacy breaches include civil monetary penalties assessed by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights using tiered, inflation-adjusted dollar ranges per violation, criminal fines and imprisonment for knowing and wrongful disclosures of individually identifiable health information, and settlement outcomes that can require corrective action obligations and multi-year monitoring.
Civil monetary penalties apply when a covered entity or business associate violates requirements under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the HIPAA Security Rule, or the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, including violations that lead to an impermissible use or disclosure. The Office for Civil Rights applies a four-tier structure based on the level of knowledge and the presence of willful neglect. The per-violation ranges are $145 to $73,011 for the lowest tier, $1,461 to $73,011 for reasonable cause, $14,602 to $73,011 for willful neglect that is corrected within the required period, and $73,011 to $2,190,294 for willful neglect that is not corrected within the required period. The inflation-adjusted calendar year cap for violations of an identical provision can reach $2,190,294.
Criminal penalties apply when a person knowingly and wrongfully obtains, uses, or discloses individually identifiable health information in violation of the statute. A basic offense can be punished by a fine up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to one year. An offense committed under false pretenses can be punished by a fine up to $100,000 and imprisonment up to five years. An offense committed with intent to sell, transfer, or use the information for commercial advantage, personal gain, or malicious harm can be punished by a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment up to 10 years.
Enforcement outcomes for privacy breaches also include resolution agreements and settlements that require operational changes beyond payment. These terms may require revised privacy and security policies, workforce training, access controls aligned to job duties, audit logging and review, breach response procedures, and completion of risk analysis and risk management activities under the HIPAA Security Rule. State attorneys general may bring civil actions under their HIPAA enforcement authority, which can add financial exposure and compliance obligations separate from federal enforcement.