Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines

Remember back when HIPAA was supposed to protect our medical information? Sure you do, back in 2003? With HIPAA, the U.S. would finally have a national standard, rather than the previous ?every state for itself? business.

According to a Washington Post story, the current administration has received nearly 20,000 complaints and has not imposed a single civil fine and has only prosecuted two criminal cases.

More than 73 per cent have been closed, the administration feeling that there was no violation, or allowing promises of fixes to stand in the stead of actual fixes.

“Our first approach to dealing with any complaint is to work for voluntary compliance. So far it’s worked out pretty well,” said Winston Wilkinson, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights, which is in charge of enforcing the law.

By not enforcing the laws, consumer privacy advocates say, the law is not safeguarding sensitive medical records.

“The law was put in place to give people some confidence that when they talk to their doctor or file a claim with their insurance company, that information isn’t going to be used against them,” said Janlori Goldman, a health-care privacy expert at Columbia University. “They have done almost nothing to enforce the law or make sure people are taking it seriously. I think we’re dangerously close to having a law that is essentially meaningless.”

You can read more about this story at Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines.