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The undersigned national organizations representing physicians are writing to express serious concerns regarding the Business Associates provisions in the final privacy rule promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ( HIPAA ) . Thank you for inviting the National Institute on Drug Abuse ( NIDA ) , a component of the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) , an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) , to participate in this important hearing . Medical and pharmaceutical groups testified on May 14 at the sixth and final hearing of Drug Importation Task Force of the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) , and their testimonies seemed to communicate a growing acceptance that drug importation at some level is inevitable . Public assistance has come from such programs as Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ) Section 8 , Community Development Block Grants , Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) Title XX and the Older Americans Act. State housing development authorities have provided construction financing as well as long-term financing through the sale of bonds . I am honored to be here today to present to you the President 's FY 2004 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) .