HIPAA LAWS

A couple days ago I blogged about a denied insurance claim on my husband.  As stated earlier, I called our insurance company to get to the bottom of this.  First and foremost, I wanted to verify that my husband’s physician was a preferred provider.  “Tina” asked for all the appropriate information; patient name, date-of-birth, ID #, etc.  But when she realized that I was not the patient, THE BRAKES WENT ON.  Due to HIPAA laws, she could go no further with our call.  I had to get my husband on the phone, and he had to verbally give her permission to speak with me (which he did).  I know this can sometimes be a pain in the you-know-what, but HIPAA is ultimately for our own protection.  “Tina” went on and discussed the claim with me, but also indicated if I needed to call again about him, she would again have to get verbal permission.  To side step this for future calls, she is going to mail him a permission form to fill out and mail back.

HIPAA

HIPPA stands for The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a Federal law that passed in 1996, that allows persons to qualify immediately for comparable health insurance coverage when they change their employment or relationships. It also creates the authority to mandate the use of standards for the electronic exchange of health care data; to specify what medical and administrative code sets should be used within those standards; to require the use of national identification systems for health care patients, providers, payers (or plans), and employers (or sponsors); and to specify the types of measures required to protect the security and privacy of personally identifiable health care. It also ensures patients have access to their own medical records while adding new responsibilities to those charged with protecting this information.  Many refer to HIPPA as a privacy protection law.