HIPAA Law

Most people in healthcare-related industries know elements of HIPAA law – most often the elements that are relevant to their specific roles. However, in order to fully understand HIPAA compliance and why HIPAA regulations are written in the way they are, it is beneficial to have a little knowledge about the origins of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the changes to HIPAA law made since its enactment.

The origins of HIPAA law go back a long way before the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was enacted in 1996. The original proposals – to prohibit self-insuring employers and the insurance industry from denying coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions – evolved from Congressional Acts such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in 1974 and the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA).

The proposals relating to healthcare insurance portability and accountability were passed under the Senate´s Health Insurance Reform Bill in 1995 and eventually became Title I of HIPAA. The privacy and security regulations most people associate with HIPAA law today did not materialize until 1999, when the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a proposed Privacy Rule for public comment in compliance with the Administrative Simplification Provision (part of Title II of HIPAA).

More info here: