8/4/2023 0 Comments Covid vaccination card hipaaSome confusion about who counts as a “covered entity” is understandable: It’s a broad, opaque term, and most Americans probably want to believe that it covers as much as possible. But if the senator’s doctor or nurse or even an administrative aide in their hospital slipped me a copy of the test results without the senator’s permission, they would almost certainly be violating HIPAA. If I learned of the diagnosis from one of the senator’s family members or from a staffer in their office, that source wouldn’t be violating HIPAA, either. As a journalist, if I learned that a prominent hypothetical senator had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, I would not be violating HIPAA if I reported that information in this publication. Whatever the merits of such a right, HIPAA doesn’t actually protect it beyond covered entities. In the folk version of HIPAA, however, those rules are actually a general right to medical privacy in all circumstances. But anyone who’s had to recite their birth date when calling a doctor’s office or signed privacy waivers while in the emergency room has encountered the law. Since most Americans don’t work in the health care industry, they probably aren’t familiar with the bulk of the administrative changes wrought by HIPAA over the past two decades. HIPAA privacy rules can be somewhat complex, but the law and its regulations generally prohibit “covered entities” under the statute-doctors, hospital administrators, insurers, and so on-from obtaining or disclosing a person’s health-related information in most circumstances without that person’s consent. One of the new rules required by Congress involved medical privacy. As part of its effort to revamp portability, HIPAA also sought to improve how health-related information was shared within the health care industry. Some of its provisions, most notably those involving preexisting conditions, were also eclipsed by the Affordable Care Act and other later reforms. In a way, it’s a testament to HIPAA’s success that many Americans don’t associate it with its central purpose today. Though modest by today’s standards, the changes were touted as a major step in health care reform by President Bill Clinton, who struggled with the issue throughout his first term. Its real aim was reflected by its name: The law sought to make it easier for Americans to keep their health insurance when they left or lost their job, by imposing new restrictions on when a new employer’s insurer could deny them coverage. How did we get here? When Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996, medical privacy wasn’t in the forefront of lawmakers’ minds. “You see, with HIPAA rights, we don’t have to reveal our medical records, and that also includes our vaccine records.” “Well, your first question is a violation of my HIPAA rights,” she replied. One of the most cynical invocations in recent memory came from Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was asked by a reporter on Capitol Hill if she’d received the Covid-19 vaccine yet amid a surge of cases in her home state. HIPAA is also routinely cited by opponents of Covid-19 restrictions to justify ignoring or flouting them. Prescott isn’t alone in invoking the well-known but little-understood health reform law to pointedly avoid questions about his vaccination status. “I don’t necessarily think that’s exactly important,” he told reporters. But when asked last week whether he had received the Covid-19 vaccine, Prescott demurred. On Tuesday, his coach even announced that Prescott wouldn’t throw during practice because his shoulder hurt. The team gave regular updates on their star quarterback’s surgery and recovery after a gruesome compound ankle fracture last October. The Dallas Cowboys, like all pro football teams, regularly brief the press about injury updates and medical conditions of their players. When NFL quarterback Dak Prescott doesn’t feel well, the whole world knows about it.
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