Marti Arvin (marti.arvin@cynergistek.com) is Executive Advisor at Cynergistek in Austin, TX.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act[1] not only provided needed pandemic financial relief for healthcare organizations, but it also made changes to the law for how substance use disorder (SUD) records are handled. The CARES Act changed 42 U.S.C. § 290dd-2 , the statutory basis for the regulations at 42 C.F.R. Part 2 . The language of the act states the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services must promulgate regulations that would be effective for disclosures after March 27, 2021. As of April 15, 2021, it has not proposed regulations to enact the provisions of the CARES act.