Health Insurance Portability

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 The writer will be discussing the health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, its principal element of the law, how the law is communicated to health care providers and the institution, and what providers are likely to be the most impacted by the laws. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) adopted by Congress in 1996 (PL. 104-191), aims to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of patient information (Pozgar, 2013, p. 245). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is dramatically broader in scope than privacy protections for health care information, a provision for

HMOs, Medicare, and Medicaid: (b) health care clearinghouses, such as billing companies and third party administrators: (c) health care providers, such as hospitals and doctors. These regulations protect patient privacy by restricting disclosure of health information to the "minimum necessary" while also preventing unauthorized use by "downstream users." (Collins, 2007). In addition, the Federal laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, and the California law requires us to protect the privacy and security of all patient health information. As an example for the enforcement of the regulations, the Department of Health and Services in Los Angeles County provides a mandated "Annual Nursing Core Competency" on the confidentiality of patient information as one of the topics. Nevertheless, the privacy law requires Department of Health Services to take additional steps to keep information safe by providing additional training for workforce members to assure patient information on computers is kept

The ACA aims to extend health insurance to about 32 million uninsured Americans by expanding both private and public insurance (NCSL, 2013). The United States Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights released its long-awaited final regulations expanding privacy rights of patients and others dated January 17, 2013. These new rules trigger major changes in medical record privacy measures required of health providers by two federal laws, such as the HIPAA (enacted in 1996) and the HITECH Act (enacted 2009), these rules will apply to virtually all people, including those newly covered through exchanges, private employer coverage, and Medicaid expansions. Patients can ask for a copy of their electronic medical record in an electronic form. When individuals pay by cash, they can instruct their provider not to share information about their treatment with their health plan. The final omnibus rule limits on how the information is used and disclosed. It prohibits the use of marketing and fundraising purposes and prohibits the sale of an individual 's health information. (NCSL, 2013)

References

Pozgar, G. D. (2013). Legal and ethical issues for health professionals. Burlington, MA: Jones &

Bartlett Learning.

National Conference of State Legislature, (2015). JAMA: the Journal of American

Medical Associations. Retrieved