The Act was enacted to make health insurance more "portable" from one employer to another. The law mandates procedures for both new hires and for existing employees who are leaving the company. Employees who are new to a company can use evidence of previous health care coverage that is provided by their former employer to reduce or eliminate the new employer's preexisting condition requirements. Employees who are leaving a company must be provided a certificate of prior creditable health care coverage to use for this purpose. The law includes other provisions regarding restrictions on preexisting conditions, special enrollment rights and privacy rights and protections.
The health insurance reform law known as HIPAA established a coordination of health care fraud and abuse activities known as the Fraud and Abuse Control Program and the Medicare Integrity Program. The law requires the government to issue written advisory opinions in order to assist providers in understanding the requirements of the fraud and abuse laws, which are frequently criticized as vague and overly broad. The act also expands coverage of the fraud and abuse laws beyond the Medicare and Medicaid programs to include not only all federal health plans but also certain offenses to private health plans as well. The insurance portability part of the act addresses the problem of retaining the same health insurance coverage as workers move from job to job. Back to the top of the page
A Federal law that allows persons to qualify immediately for comparable health insurance coverage when they change their employment relationships. Title II, Subtitle F, of HIPAA gives the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 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 information. Also known as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Bill, the Kassebaum-Kennedy Bill, K2, or Public Law 104-191.
This Act requires, among other things, under the Administrative Simplification subtitle, the adoption of standards, including standards for protecting the privacy of individually identifiable health information.
Also known as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, HIPAA was created to protect individuals health coverage when they change jobs, it ensures that they will not be penalized for seeking treatment under their new insurance for conditions that they were treated for under their previous insurance.
Individual small group and large group insurance plans fall under established federal standards which prohibit discrimination based on health status and the renewability of insurance.
A federal law that protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change jobs. It also establishes national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health plans, and members. Issues addressed include security and privacy of health data.
HIPAA mandates changes in the legal and regulatory environments governing the provision of health benefits; the delivery and payment of health care services; and the security and confidentiality of individual, protected health information. HIPAA makes it easier for individuals and small businesses to get and keep health insurance. To reduce the cost of health insurance, HIPAA includes an “administrative simplification†section to encourage electronic transactions. Because of electronic transactions, HIPAA also has new regulations to ensure the security and privacy of electronically shared and stored medical data.
(HIPAA) A U.S. Federal law that requires the protection of information about patients and research subjects, and has broad impact on all clinical research activities.
Federal legislation which limits the informal communication of information from doctors and other health care providers
Federal law designed to help people buy and keep health insurance, even when they have serious illness or medical conditions. Protections under this law may vary from state to state according to modifications made at that level.
legislation that improves the availability of health insurance by restricting preexisting limitation clauses for those who change jobs, guaranteeing the availability of health insurance to employers of all sizes, and providing certain tax incentives.
A law that provides for certain rights to health insurance coverage. See www.hcfa.gov/medicaid/HIPAA/topics/more.asp
Primarily affecting the small group and individual health insurance markets, this legislation was designed to allow the portability of health insurance between jobs. In addition, it required the creation of a federal law to protect personally identifiable health information.
A 1996 law intended to make employer-provided health insurance more "portable" by allowing continuously covered employees leaving a company to get a coverage from a new group or individual insurance without having to wait through an exclusion period. HIPAA also established a guaranteed issue in group insurance and included a Medical Savings Account demonstration project.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) impacts all areas of the health care industry and was designed to provide insurance portability, to improve the efficiency of healthcare by standardizing the exchange of administrative and financial data, and to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of healthcare information. For more details, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa.