The Health Care HIPAA Law

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 established federal regulations governing the portability and privacy of health insurance information. Health insurers and providers who fail to comply with the rules set forth in the act face hefty fines and criminal penalties.

History

• HIPAA was signed into law by president Bill Clinton on August 21, 1996. In its early stages, HIPAA was also referred to as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, taking its name from Edward Kennedy and Nancy Kassebaum, the two senators who introduced and supported it.

Function

• HIPAA was initially created to address concerns surrounding the portability of health benefits during job changes. However, privacy rules and standards ensuring the security of health information have since become an additional primary objective.

Significance

• Prior to HIPAA's being signed into law, standards for health insurance portability and privacy varied greatly between providers. HIPAA created the first uniform set of rules and regulations on how health insurance data should be handled.

Protected Information

• HIPPA provides protections for any oral, written or electronically transmitted patient health care data. These protections also cover related financial data. Covered entities are responsible for creating safeguards to ensure compliance.

Penalties

• The American Medical Association reports that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 "established a tiered civil penalty structure for HIPAA violations." Violators face maximum annual penalties of $1.5 million and/or up to ten years imprisonment.