In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act," or HIPAA. The act was made to protect health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they lose their jobs or switch jobs. Details about this are found in Title I of the HIPAA Act. As in Title II of the act, the creation of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, employers, and health insurance plans. Along with that, we need to talk about how important it is to keep all health data safe and private. These standards are not meant to slow down the system. Instead, they are meant to make the whole national health care system more efficient and effective by "encouraging" the use of electronic data interchange in all health care.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has been controversial in the past, and I'm sure it will continue to be, just like most other laws passed by Congress. There are a lot of great things that can happen when everyone works together, but it takes time and money to get started. We can say "a little bit now for a lot later" because we don't have to pay for the upgrades that might be needed. Or do rising health care costs force us to pay?
