EPIC on new med-privacy rules

[Peter Marshall <techdiff@ix.netcom.com>]

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>    ==============================================================
>    Volume 6.18                                   November 3, 1999
>    --------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>                             Published by the
>               Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
>                             Washington, D.C.
> 
>                           http://www.epic.org
> 
> ================================================================= Proposed Federal Medical Privacy Regulations Released

> On October 29, the President presented a set of proposed federal
> regulations protecting the privacy of electronically stored medical
> records.  The regulations -- produced by the Department of Health and
> Human Services (HHS) in concert with multiple federal agencies -- are
> the first federal protections of medical privacy.  The Department of
> Health and Human Services began drafting the regulations when Congress
> failed to pass federal legislation covering medical privacy on August
> 21 of this year.  The rules are available for public comment over the
> next sixty days.
> 
> The regulations, mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and
> Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), would apply to all health plans
> and many health care providers, as well as health care clearinghouses
> such as billing companies.  However, under the HIPAA provision, the
> HHS regulations may cover only electronic data; paper records and
> verbal communications are not covered.
> 
> The HHS regulations also fail to provide a private right of action and
> leave open significant questions about how the rules will be enforced.
> The government would be able to impose civil and criminal penalties.
> 
> Privacy advocates, while commending the White House for moving forward
> on the medical privacy regulations after Congress failed to meet its
> self-imposed deadline for the passage of legislation, nonetheless said
> that comprehensive legislation would be necessary to ensure the privacy
> of medical records.
> 
> Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, "Standards for Privacy of Individually
> Identifiable Health Information"
> 
>      http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/
> 
> HHS Medical Privacy Regulations
> 
>      http://www.epic.org/privacy/medical/HHS_medical_privacy_regs.html
> 
> HHS Medical Privacy Regulations [PDF]
> 
>      http://www.epic.org/privacy/medical/HHS_medical_privacy_regs.PDF
> 
> Remarks by the President on Medical Privacy, October 29, 1999
> 
>      http://www.epic.org/privacy/medical/announce_med_privacy.html