HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance and Portability Accountability Act, introduced in 1996. The aim was to ensure that people who are changing their jobs could continue to enjoy quality health care services. This act ensures that any person who has taken a group health insurance plan must have the right to buy health insurance within a particular interval of time after he or she has lost the previous coverage. This law helps employees, especially those one who have been finding it difficult to change their jobs because they are afraid of losing their insurance; they are not sure whether new insurance coverage in the new job would allow them to enjoy same benefits. HIPAA has disallowed the policy of pre-existing conditions. It has also barred the charging of high premiums by new insurance companies based on information related to the health of an employee after he or she gets the policy renewed. This Act allows the Department of Health and Human Services to create uniform controls so that the management of sensitive information as well as its transfer is done appropriately. This has been done to ensure that the privacy of an individual is guarded as far as his individual health care information is concerned. Most of the clinics, pharmacies, health care centers and hospitals can provide you with pamphlets about HIPAA. While signing the forms provided with these pamphlets, do not forget to check the space which asks you to indicate who may not or who may be allowed to review your personal information. |
