Hipaa Act of 1996

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

Enacted by the United States Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, HIPAA

was mandated to ensure that health insurance coverage could continue upon leaving an employer (portability) and to provide industry-wide standards for facilitating healthcare related electronic transactions. It was also formed to reduce healthcare fraud and abuse and with the hope that the healthcare system in our country might be run more effectively and efficiently. HIPAA is divided into different titles or sections. Each part addresses a unique aspect of health insurance reform. Two main sections are Title I dealing with portability and Title II that focuses on Administrative Simpli-

fications. The Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA define rules and standards that must be followed by the healthcare industry.

The HIPAA Privacy Regulations were proposed on November 3, 1999 in response to patients' concerns over the loss of privacy in reference to sensitive health information. The regulations were published on December 28, 2000 and were authorized by the Bush administration on April 14, 2001 with a compliance date of April 14, 2003 . The HIPAA Privacy Rule is complex - it sets the federal standards for how protected health information is controlled. The Privacy Rule applies to every patient whose medical information is collected, used or disclosed by CEs (covered entities) and its regulations apply to everyone who works for a CE in any capacity - including volunteers and con- tracted business associates of healthcare institutions. The underlying policies and provisions of the Privacy Rule carefully balance the fine lines between protecting the privacy of individuals’ PHI and assuring that such health information is accessible to those who need it to provide health care, pay- ment for care, and for other important purposes. HIPAA stipulates the following patients' rights under its...