HIPPA & Workers' Comp Information
- HIPAA sets federal standards that protect medically related privacy rights. Under HIPAA, a patient's medical records, health care and medical treatment are private and cannot be used or shared unless a special exception exists under the law or the patient gives consent. HIPAA also ensures that employees, along with their spouses and children, do not lose health insurance because of a pre-existing condition when the qualifying employee loses his job or changes jobs.
- Workers' compensation, commonly referred to as workers' comp, is insurance that provides compensation to employees who have been injured on the job. While the extent and degree of coverage vary between jurisdictions, workers' comp usually includes supplemental income, reimbursement for medical expenses, and payments covering past and future losses. In order to obtain workers' comp, an employee usually must waive his or her right to be able to sue his employer for the injuries sustained.
- Information regarding a patient's health and medical treatment that is paid for or reimbursed by workers' compensation is not protected by HIPPA. Authorization to release the information is not required from the patient. Likewise, the patient has no privacy right and cannot ask that her information not be turned over to administrative workers' comp personnel.
- Although the workers' comp exception to HIPAA allows a patient's medical information to be shared without the patient's prior consent, the patient's rights and medical information still enjoy some protection. Specifically, the amount of information that can be used in shared is strictly limited. Under the HIPAA exception, health care providers must disclose only the minimum information necessary needed to accomplish the workers' comp purposes.
- Employees working in the private sector or are employed by the state or local government agencies need to contact their state's workers' compensation board regarding workers' compensation. However, employees who work for the federal government, the postal service or the Department of Energy; who are longshoreman; or who qualify under the Black Lung Benefits Act or the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, need to contact the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs about obtaining compensation and benefits.