You may think that an adequate estate plan consists of a will or living
trust coupled with a durable power of attorney and a healthcare power of
attorney and living will. There is now an additional estate planning
document that you may need to have for a more complete plan. This
additional document is what is known as a HIPAA Authorization and could
make a big difference in the quality of care that you receive.
All of these forms may sound confusing in their name and actual purpose,
but HIPPA is an abbreviation for an act of Congress concerning health
care records. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability And
Accountability Act. HIPAA was enacted by Congress to increase medical
privacy for individuals. there was a concern that medical records were
too easy to access and could fall into the hands of the wrong
individuals. Once in the hands of these individuals the information
could be used for wrongdoing to exploit the patients. Congress made the
act to enhance the privacy of medical patients and severely restrict who
could access a patients medical records. Every medical provider,
whether it be a hospital, doctors office, or clinic must have written
authorization to release medical records to anybody that is not the
patient including a spouse or other family members.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently imposed
multimillion dollar penalties on medical providers that have violated
the act. Healthcare providers have clamped down on who can access
records to prevent liability and future payouts in lawsuits. So now it
is more important than ever to plan for the act as part of an estate
plan. This would come into play if you were to become incapacitated and
unable to speak for yourself. An adequate estate plan must have a person
in place to make medical decisions for you. The person you name must be
able to access all of your medical records to be able to make the best
health decisions for you. Most states have a Healthcare Power of
Attorney form that includes a HIPAA release provision that allows the
appointed agent access to medical records. This is so the agent will
have access to all information that might be necessary to make a
healthcare decision for a principal that is no longer able to speak for
themselves. It also may be necessary to fill out a separate HIPAA
release form for additional family members to have access to medical
records that may not be a named agent under the Healthcare Power of
Attorney. Healthcare providers can be more accepting to releasing
medical records if they see a HIPPA release.
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