WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) today applauded the passage of the Health Care Cybersecurity and Resilience Act out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Warner along with Committee chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and a bipartisan group of colleagues, aims to strengthen cyber defenses across the nation’s health care system, better protect sensitive patient data, and support providers responding to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

“Cyberattacks on our health care system don’t just compromise data – they can disrupt care, delay treatments, and put lives at risk,” said Sen. Warner. “I’m encouraged to see this bipartisan legislation advance through committee. It takes important steps to strengthen our cyber defenses, improve coordination across federal agencies, and ensure that providers – especially those in rural and underserved communities – have the tools they need to protect patients and continue delivering care.”

The Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act:

• Strengthens cybersecurity in the health care sector by providing grants to health entities to improve cyberattack prevention and response.
• Provides training to health entities on cybersecurity best practices.
• Supports rural communities by providing best practices to rural health clinics and other providers on cybersecurity breach prevention, resilience, and coordination with federal agencies.
• Improves coordination between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to better respond to cyberattacks in the health care sector.
• Modernizes current regulations so entities covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) use the best cybersecurity practices.
• Requires the HHS Secretary to develop and implement a cybersecurity incident response plan.

Cyberattacks targeting the health care sector have surged in recent years, with hundreds of breaches impacting millions of Americans and disrupting critical services nationwide. High-profile incidents have exposed sensitive patient data and caused widespread delays in care, underscoring the urgent need for stronger cybersecurity protections.

Sen. Warner has been a leading voice in Congress on cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructure, consistently advocating for stronger safeguards to defend against evolving digital threats.

The legislation now advances to the full Senate for consideration.

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