114 STAT. 1654A-198 PUBLIC LAW 106-398—APPENDIX (2) The Secretary shall complete the review and assessment under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— Not later than March 1, 2001, the Secretary of the Army shall submit a report on the results of the review and assessment under subsection (c) to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The report shall include the following: (1) The findings resulting from the review and assessment. (2) Any proposal for legislation that the Secretary recommends to strengthen the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the authority of the Secretary of the Army to take the actions described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, of subsection (c)(1). (e) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT. —The Secretary of the Army shall consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services in carrying out the review and assessment under subsection (c) and in preparing the report (including making recommendations) under subsection (d). SEC. 756. PRIVACY OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MEDICAL RECORDS. (a) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. —Not later than April 1, 2001, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to improve privacy protections for medical records maintained by the Department of Defense. Such plan shall be consistent with the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191; 42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note). (b) INTERIM REGULATIONS.— (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall prescribe interim regulations, pending full implementation of the comprehensive plan described in subsection (a), to improve privacy protections for medical records maintained by the Department of Defense. (2) The regulations prescribed under paragraph (1) shall provide maximum protections for privacy consistent with such actions that the Secretary determines are necessary for purposes of national security, law enforcement, patient treatment, public health reporting, accreditation and licensure review activities, external peer review and other quality assurance program activities, payment for health care services, fraud and abuse prevention, judicial and administrative proceedings, research consistent with regulations on Governmentwide protection of human subjects. Department of Veterans Affairs benefit programs, and any other purposes identified by the Secretary for the responsible management of the military health care system. SEC. 757. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH SPECIAL LOCALITY-BASED REIMBURSEMENT RATES; REPORTS. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1079(h) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: "(5) To assure access to care for all covered beneficiaries, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the other administering Secretaries, shall designate specific rates for reimbursement for services in certain localities if the Secretary determines that without payment of such rates access to health care services would be severely impaired. Such a determination shall be based on consideration of the number of providers in a locality who provide the
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