Health Insurance Protection
A Insurance Article Contributed by Manoj Kumar
Health Insurance Protection
How to regulate provisions of health insurance? What to do in case you loose group life insurance coverage due to termination of employment or change of job? How can you avail health insurance protection incase you have any preexisting conditions? These are important questions to consider as private health costs are rocketing sky high. Read on for answers to these questions and more.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was brought in to effect in the year 1996, 21st August by the then United States President Bill Clinton. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a multi-step endeavor aimed towards simplifying and improving health insurance and other related health care systems. HIPAA has laid down certain guidelines and rules that insurance companies, hospitals and doctors are expected to adhere to.
These rules are laid down in order to protect patient's rights and to ensure that they are not unduly exploited during medical treatments and procedures.
Provisions of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - Hipaa
The provisions of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act are contained in four parts in order to ensure administrative simplification. They are as follows:
* Standards for Electronic Transactions - for all matters pertaining to health claims, eligibility for health plan, enrollment and disenrollment care and health plan premium payments, claim status, first injury reports, coordination of benefits, and all other relating procedures.
* Unique Identifiers Standards - in order to uniquely identify employers, health insurance providers, other health care providers and the different health plans.
* Security Rule - in order to ensure confidentially and integrity of electronic protected health related information.
* Privacy Rule - to offer adequate privacy for a person's health related information and in order to prevent unnecessary disclosure of protected health information.
How Does Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Protect Workers and Their Family?
One of the main aims of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is to provide enhanced continuity and improved portability for employees' group health insurance plans in the event of unexpected loss or termination of existing health insurance coverage. Take a look at some of the protections HIPAA offers to workers and their family.
* Offers protection by specifying strict limits on exclusions with respect to preexisting medical conditions
* Provides certificates to employees showing duration of previous coverage in order to assist them to purchase new health insurance plan with a new insurance provider.
* Presents new rights to employees to help them enroll for new health insurance coverage in the event of marriage, addition of new depended, loss of old coverage (or any others as mentioned).
* Helps to eliminate discrimination in premium amounts charged to employees and their family on the basis of health status related factors.
* Guarantees accessibility of health insurance coverage to small employers and also facilities easy insurance renewability procedures for both small as well as large employers.
* Enforces measures in order to eliminate fraudulent activities prevalent in the health care systems.
* Ensures that companies offering such coverage (Medigap policies) do not refuse eligible employees Medigap protection during change of employment (or loss of existing insurance due to any other permissible causes).
* Provides for improved disclosure of terms and conditions contained in the group health plans.
* Contains provisions to preserve the states' role in regulating health insurance. Also preserves states authority to offer greater protection compared to those available under Federal law.
