Your Vaccination Status Is Not Covered by HIPPA Rules (Page 2/2)
randye OCT 04, 07:31 PM

quote
Originally posted by blackrams:


As I said, I fully expect this to be challenged in court.

Rams



I believe that everyone should VERY CAREFULLY read and understand that press release by HHS

What I understand them to be stating is simply a restatement of existing HIPPA law as it affects COVERED ENTITIES.

That means the types of individuals and organizations are subject to the Privacy Rule.

EMPLOYERS have never been a covered entity since HIPPA's inception.

Simply put, if you voluntarily disclose your vaccination status, OR ANY OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION, to an employer they ARE NOT REQUIRED under HIPPA to keep that information confidential because they are not a "covered entity" under the privacy rule.

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/f...gulations/index.html

https://www.cms.gov/Regulat...AreYouaCoveredEntity

I do not believe that this media announcement is what some folks might be erroneously thinking it is.

In short, they can ask but YOU are not legally obligated to provide information about your personal protected health information and covered entities such as your doctor or hospital or clinic are still forbidden by law from disclosure except under very specific and limited circumstances of which your individual Covid vaccination status meets NONE of those circumstances.

This probably WILL get a court challenge but the litigation will likely not be solely focused on Covid vaccination status because many other types of personal protected health information under HIPPA "ride on the coattails" of this kind of possible intrusion, including substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment and sexually transmitted disease treatment information just to name a few.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 10-04-2021).]

blackrams OCT 04, 08:07 PM

quote
Originally posted by randye:


I believe that you should VERY CAREFULLY read and understand that press release by HHS

What I understand them to be stating is simply a restatement of existing HIPPA law as it affects COVERED ENTITIES.

That means the types of individuals and organizations are subject to the Privacy Rule.

EMPLOYERS have never been a covered entity since HIPPA's inception.

Simply put, if you voluntarily disclose your vaccination status, OR ANY OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION, to an employer they ARE NOT REQUIRED under HIPPA to keep that information confidential because they are not a "covered entity" under the privacy rule.

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/f...gulations/index.html

https://www.cms.gov/Regulat...AreYouaCoveredEntity

I do not believe that this media announcement is what some folks might be erroneously thinking it is.

In short, they can ask but neither you or any covered entity under the privacy rule are legally obligated to provide information about your personal protected health information.

This probably WILL get a court challenge but the litigation will likely not be solely focused on Covid vaccination status because many other types of personal protected health information under HIPPA "ride on the coattails" of this kind of possible intrusion, including substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment and sexually transmitted disease treatment information just to name a few.




So, you agree this WILL get challenged in court.............. BUT... You believe that I should VERY CAREFULLY read and understand that press release by HHS?

In what way was I mistaken in what I said? Did I suggest anything other than I would bet there's a challenge coming?

Rams
randye OCT 04, 08:33 PM

quote
Originally posted by blackrams:


So, you agree this WILL get challenged in court.............. BUT... You believe that I should VERY CAREFULLY read and understand that press release by HHS?

In what way was I mistaken in what I said? Did I suggest anything other than I would bet there's a challenge coming?

Rams



Ron, I realize that you simply copied the article's headline but that headline is absolutely misleading.

Your individual vaccination status IS still covered under HIPPA unless you voluntarily disclose that information to an employer.

Since the employer IS NOT a covered entity under HIPPA law then the employer is NOT RESTRICTED from disclosing your vaccination status to anyone they choose to.

I'm simply attempting to clarify what the MSN article obviously garbled about the HHS press release.

NOT YOU.

You, me and everyone else are still completely within our right under HIPPA law to privacy and we ARE NOT LEGALLY REQUIRED to disclose personal private health information, (including SARS COV2 vaccination status), that we do not wish to and covered entities are also STILL REQUIRED to maintain our personal privacy.

That is all.

Additionally, since you appear to have taken umbrage at my use of the word "you" in the first sentence of my original post I will edit that post, changing the word "you" to "everyone".

The headline and the first full sentence of that News-weak article propaganda is shameful and is a good example of why a lot of this panicdemic hysteria and wild misinformation exists......and it's another reminder to me of why I rarely venture into these damn Covid threads.

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 10-04-2021).]

blackrams OCT 04, 08:58 PM

quote
Originally posted by randye:


NOT YOU.

You, me and everyone else are still completely within our right under HIPPA law to privacy and we ARE NOT LEGALLY REQUIRED to disclose personal private health information, (including SARS COV2 vaccination status), that we do not wish to and covered entities are also STILL REQUIRED to maintain our personal privacy.

That is all.





Thanks, appreciate the response.

Rams