WTF? Hospitals can release my information at *their* discretion?!

[gopunk]

Patients lose privacy rights

i know it's old news, but i didn't find a previous thread about this, and i think it's important.

what constitutes a "good faith" effort? i mean, i could just miss a phone call, and boom my employer, or some enemy of mine has my information :|

 

[Danman]

DA FOOK?! :disgust:

 

[rahvin]

Ummm, you aren't losing anything if you didn't have it before. Shady journalism there implying you "lost" something because a more stringent requirement wasn't enacted even though federal privacy rules are going into effect for the first time in history. It's a little silly that your doctor needs a signed form from you to get persmission to tell your insurance provider what is wrong with you so they can tell the doctor if they will cover it before you have it done.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: rahvin
Ummm, you aren't losing anything if you didn't have it before. Shady journalism there implying you "lost" something because a more stringent requirement wasn't enacted even though federal privacy rules are going into effect for the first time in history. It's a little silly that your doctor needs a signed form from you to get persmission to tell your insurance provider what is wrong with you so they can tell the doctor if they will cover it before you have it done.

while that's not an ideal situation, neither is an employer getting access to your records, or some other potential disaster. it would be more than silly, and downright harmful, if an employer found out you suffered a bout of severe depression, or some other mental illness.

i'm not saying clinton's proposed plan should have been put in place, but i think it's clear that a better plan than the current one is needed.

 

[Lucky]

not worth it

 

[vi edit]

while that's not an ideal situation, neither is an employer getting access to your records, or some other potential disaster. it would be more than silly, and downright harmful, if an employer found out you suffered a bout of severe depression, or some other mental illness.

If your employer is fronting 50% or more of your insurance premiums, I don't find it completely unreasonable for them to know what claims are being made on your policy. Employer knowing - as in benefits administrator that are sworn to confidentiality - is just part of the price you pay for cheap medical coverage.

Just my $.02 anyway.

If you don't like it, pay your own premiums.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: rahvin
Ummm, you aren't losing anything if you didn't have it before. Shady journalism there implying you "lost" something because a more stringent requirement wasn't enacted even though federal privacy rules are going into effect for the first time in history. It's a little silly that your doctor needs a signed form from you to get persmission to tell your insurance provider what is wrong with you so they can tell the doctor if they will cover it before you have it done.

while that's not an ideal situation, neither is an employer getting access to your records, or some other potential disaster. it would be more than silly, and downright harmful, if an employer found out you suffered a bout of severe depression, or some other mental illness.

i'm not saying clinton's proposed plan should have been put in place, but i think it's clear that a better plan than the current one is needed.

Did you read the article? There are currently NO federal rules, they are enacting rules to prevent medical records from falling into the hands of people it shouldn't. I'm not even sure the current no rule system is broken. I'm always a little wary of "Federal" rules that cost everyone money and safeguard nothing. I really think this should be a state issue.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

while that's not an ideal situation, neither is an employer getting access to your records, or some other potential disaster. it would be more than silly, and downright harmful, if an employer found out you suffered a bout of severe depression, or some other mental illness.

If your employer is fronting 50% or more of your insurance premiums, I don't find it completely unreasonable for them to know what claims are being made on your policy. Employer knowing - as in benefits administrator that are sworn to confidentiality - is just part of the price you pay for cheap medical coverage.

Just my $.02 anyway.

If you don't like it, pay your own premiums.

i wasn't even thinking about that... i was thinking of that information being used against me by people that don't like me. say joe coworker is envious of my position. joe worker could then dig around in my medical history, and go "oooh look gopunk almost killed himself 20 years ago", thus potentially hurting my career.

 

[gopunk]

Did you read the article? There are currently NO federal rules, they are enacting rules to prevent medical records from falling into the hands of people it shouldn't.

yes i read the article, are you reading my posts? i NEVER SAID there were federal rules before this, i am just saying that the rules as they stand aren't good enough.

 

[vi edit]

BTW, the laws that Clinton put into place are lumped under an act called Hipaa.

 

[Red Dawn]

How do you think we found out about your sex change??

 

[Cyberian]

i wasn't even thinking about that... i was thinking of that information being used against me by people that don't like me. say joe coworker is envious of my position. joe worker could then dig around in my medical history, and go "oooh look gopunk almost killed himself 20 years ago", thus potentially hurting my career.

I thought the information could only be released to insurance companies and HMOs.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Cyberian

i wasn't even thinking about that... i was thinking of that information being used against me by people that don't like me. say joe coworker is envious of my position. joe worker could then dig around in my medical history, and go "oooh look gopunk almost killed himself 20 years ago", thus potentially hurting my career.

I thought the information could only be released to insurance companies and HMOs.

yea, that's true i suppose.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: gopunk
Did you read the article? There are currently NO federal rules, they are enacting rules to prevent medical records from falling into the hands of people it shouldn't.

yes i read the article, are you reading my posts? i NEVER SAID there were federal rules before this, i am just saying that the rules as they stand aren't good enough.

I'm reading your post that's why I'm asking you what current rules because currently there are none and I don't see anything inherintly wrong with the system as it stands right now. Fear of lawsuits keeps your medical providers from disclosing information to anyone they don't think they should. No employer would dare attempt to acccess medical records because of the civil lawsuit that could be filed against them and no medical provider would provide the information for fear of a lawsuit for breach of privacy. This doesn't mean it won't happen but that why the court system exists, we don't need to stick a federal bowl of red tape in front of all medical service that raises medical costs by 10%. Be wary of the federal government trying to enforce rules, it always comes with a lot of red tape and hassle for everyone involved (including you).