HIPAA

HIPAA is the Clinton-era law best known today for its medical-records privacy rules. A HIPAA release pairs naturally with a living will or healthcare power of attorney so a designated agent can actually access the records they need.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, often abbreviated HIPAA, is a 1996 law known for the stringent privacy requirements it imposed on the healthcare industry. The requirements are so pervasive that if you have utilized many healthcare services at all, you have likely at some point signed a HIPAA waiver. Because of the complexity of the law and potential penalties for violators, many physicians and other healthcare providers have taken an overly cautious approach, requiring consent where no consent is necessary. This accounts for the pervasiveness of waiver requests.

Provisions of HIPAA

HIPAA originally addressed the issue of preexisting conditions in group plans, providing that such plans could only exclude coverage for preexisting conditions for a period of twelve months — or eighteen months in the case of late enrollment — and that the exclusion period had to be reduced by the length of any prior creditable coverage. This provision was meant to prevent preexisting conditions from trapping individuals in their jobs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 effectively superseded HIPAA’s preexisting-condition framework by prohibiting group and individual health plans from imposing any preexisting-condition exclusion at all, making HIPAA’s twelve- and eighteen-month rules largely historical.

While the provisions dealing with preexisting conditions were a significant change to the law in 1996, the most famous provisions of HIPAA involve the privacy protections the law provides. Subject to important exceptions, no one can access another person’s protected health information without permission. Only the patient, pertinent healthcare professionals, and anyone the patient has given permission with informed consent may access the information. Emergency situations, court orders, and certain public-health and law-enforcement disclosures fall within statutory and regulatory exceptions.

HIPAA Release

Because of the stringent requirements of the law, a HIPAA release is generally required to allow someone else to view your information. HIPAA releases can therefore serve as an important complement to a living will or healthcare power of attorney, as you would normally want your healthcare agent to have access to your medical information. Without a release, your healthcare professional may refuse to disclose the information without a court order.

A HIPAA release must describe the information that may be disclosed, who may access it, and for what purpose it may be disclosed. It must be signed and dated by the person giving the authorization, and it must include an expiration date or a description of an event that terminates the operation of the release.

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. HIPAA compliance and the interaction between HIPAA releases and healthcare advance directives are governed by federal regulations and state-specific advance-directive statutes; consult a qualified estate-planning or healthcare attorney about your situation.