How Long Did it Take to Implement HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It was created to make the delivery of health care more efficient and regulate who would have access to your health information. Prior to the enactment of HIPPA many states and health care organizations had their own set of rules. HIPPA created a uniform set of policies applicable across the entire United States. However, in states where the rules are more stringent, they supersede HIPPA regulations.

Time Frame

• In 1996, congress enacted HIPPA and tasked the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to propose standards. In 1997 the Secretary presented the standards to congress for review. In 1999 congress was unable to come to a consensus in regards to the regulations, therefore the Secretary finalized the regulations and the Clinton administration announced and posted the regulations for a routine comment period. The final rules were published in December of 2000.

Compliance

• A two-year grace period was initiated to allow for training and full implementation. The deadline for implementation was set for April of 2003 for all entities except small health plans. That deadline was set for one year later. After each of these deadlines, penalties could be assigned for violations of the HIPPA standards.

Violations

• According to the American Medical Association, penalties for violating HIPPA standard range from $100 to $250,000 per violation as well as the possibility of jail time. As of September 22, 2010, a total of 54,562 complaints have been filed with the Office of Health and Human Services since April of 2003.