Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996 (HIPAA)
HIPAA
is comprehensive law enacted by Congress. The
law has several subparts providing such benefits
as guaranteed portability and renewal of insurance
benefits between employers, tax provisions for
medical savings accounts and administrative simplification
to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
the health care system.
During
the latter part of the 1990’s, the Secretary
of the Department of Health and Human Services
drafted regulations for standardizing the electronic
interchange of administrative and financial data
and protecting the security and privacy of personal
health information.
HIPAA
requires health care providers, health plans
and health care clearinghouses to transition
to the use of standard code sets and “electronic
data interchange (EDI) and to maintain reasonable
and appropriate administrative, technical, and
physical safeguards to insure the integrity and
confidentiality of healthcare information; to
protect against reasonably foreseeable threats
and hazards to the security or integrity of the
information; and, to protect against unauthorized
uses or disclosure of the information. Compliance
with first of the HIPAA rules is scheduled for
early 2003.
All
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs officers, employees,
and agents shall preserve the integrity and the
confidentiality of individually identifiable
health information (IIHI) pertaining to each
client. This IIHI is protected health information
(PHI) and shall be safeguarded to the highest
degree possible in compliance with the requirements
of the security rules and standards established
under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs shall publish
and distribute a Notice of Privacy Practices
that informs the client in plain language about
the uses and disclosures of PHI the organization
will make; client rights in regard to uses and
disclosures; and, limitations on the organization
in that it could not use or disclose information
in a manner not covered in the Notice.
The
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs and its officers,
employees, and agents will not use or disclose
an individual’s protected health information
for any purpose without the properly documented
consent or authorization of the client or his/her
authorized representative unless required to
do so by federal and or state law or regulation;
unless an emergency exists; or, unless the information
has been sufficiently de-identified that the
recipient would be unable to link the information
to the client.
The
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs shall establish
contractual assurances from all business associates
to which PHI is disclosed that the information
will be used only for the purposes for which
they were engaged, will safeguard the information
from misuse, and will help the agency comply
with its duties to provide clients with access
to health information about them and a history
of certain disclosures.
The
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs shall provide
adequate training and timely updates related
to the policies and procedures for compliance
with the HIPAA privacy standards for all current
employees, new hires, agents and business associates.
Training content and participation will be documented
and retained by the Privacy Officer.
All
officers, employees and agents of The NRA Endorsed
Insurance Programs shall comply with the standards
set forth in this policy. Violation of this policy
and unauthorized uses and/or disclosures of protected
health information are very serious offenses.
Not only is violation of this policy grounds
for disciplinary action, up to and including
termination of employment, but violations related
to unauthorized use and disclosure of protected
health information may be subject to civil and
criminal penalties including significant monetary
costs and incarceration.
The
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs shall maintain
policies and procedures to implement HIPAA standards
and regulations. The NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs
shall also maintain documentation in written
or electronic form of any communication required
by the regulation and documentation of any action,
activity or designation that may be required.
Such documentation shall be maintained by the
organization for a period of six (6) years from
the date of its creation or the date when it
last was in effect, whichever is later.
If
you have any questions about this privacy statement,
the practices of this site, or your dealings
with this Web site, you can contact:
NRAEndorsedInsurance.com
NRA Endorsed Insurance Programs
P.O. Box 22108
Santa Barbara, CA 93121 |
