The Health Insurance Portability And accountability Act
The Health Insurance Portability and accountability Act or HIPAA,
which made into Law in 1996 was purposely created by the government
to protect insured clients of insurance companies from being victims
of identity theft, more specifically against unauthorized use of
a person’s personal health information.
The government is well aware of the importance to a person of his
or her health records and other very personal records like his Social
Security number, date of birth and other related information. This
information can be improperly utilized by unscrupulous person for
their own advantage. The HIPAA has made known the fact that utilizing
this information for whatever purpose without the express consent
of the insured party is against the Law and will be subject to penalties
if proven as such.
This Law came into being as the government noted with alarming
concern the increasing number of incidents whereby health records
of insured clients of insurance companies were improperly utilized
by other persons besides the owner. One reason for this obtaining
situation before the implementation of this Law was the ever increasing
improvement of the communication and data storage facilities whereby
at the click of a button, a person can have instant access to the
personal and health information records of
insured clients of an insurance company. The ease by which they
can easily retrieve this information resulted to the improper use
of such information to the disadvantage of the owners.
HIPAA, likewise, has deemed it illegal for any insurance companies
to have plans that are discriminating in nature and tend to deny
coverage or charge a higher rate for persons found not to be in
the best of health. These Laws were designed not only to protect
unauthorized use of insured client’s information but also
to stop the unfair practice of some insurance companies towards
their clients. There are of course leeways that HIPAA has enacted
for insurance companies that handling of client’s information
would be deemed legal even without the client’s authorization
so long as this information are used in the course of health related
matters pertaining their client, such as billings, health updates
and other matters. Any use of an insured client’s medical
information and other records other than the normal insurance related
transactions will need a written authorization from the insured
client. Otherwise, it can be construed as an illegal use of information.
It is in appreciation of this Law that many Insurance companies
have now corrected their
unfair system of denying coverage to some insurance applicants who
would wish to avail of health insurance coverage. Aside from this,
Insurance companies have now put up the needed safeguards to strictly
implement and to fully secure their individual data base containing
their client’s records and personal information. If you would
like to know more information about HIPAA, you can browse the internet
and look for the site of your
City Health Office. Or you can also direct your search for HIPAA
for a more thorough discussion of this Insurance Law.
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