The Health Information Portability Accounting Act (HIPAA)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Health Information Portability Accounting Act (HIPAA) creates federally mandated requirements regarding protected health information (PHI) that can impact any employer regardless of its size, location or industry. The author points out four components of the Privacy Rules: (1) Use and disclosure rules, (2) privacy practices notice, (3) individual rights provisions that preserve the individuals right to access and amend the information, obtain an accounting of disclosure and secure additional protections and (4) administrative requirements. The paper stresses that employers must be aware that noncompliance with the Privacy Rule requirements carries rigorous fines and criminal penalties for a knowing violation and for a violation with intent to sell, transfer or use PHI for commercial gain.

From the Paper:

"The healthcare industry is familiar with the Privacy Rule HIPAA Act; however, many outside the industry are not necessarily aware of the significant impact that the Privacy Rule may have on them. All employers that provides healthcare coverage to its employees, either through a fully insured or self-insured health plan, is affected by the Privacy Rule and must comply with the Rule. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") is not authorized to regulate employers directly, however employers are regulated under the Privacy Rule indirectly, through the group health plans that they establish. A group health plan is considered a "covered entity", and is therefore directly regulated unless it is a small, self-administered plan with less than 50 participants. Many group health plans are contractual entities with no independent assets."

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