The privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA), apply to certain types of health information created or maintained by health care
providers

The Implementation Guides

The HIPAA task force must first

A covered healthcare provider with a direct treatment relationship with an individual need not:

A health plan may conduct its covered transactions through a clearinghouse, and may require a
provider to conduct covered transactions with it through a clearinghouse. The incremental cost of
doing so must be borne

Covered entities (certain health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses) are
not required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule until the compliance date. Covered entities
may, of course, decide to:

What is a Covered Entity? The term “Covered Entity” is defined in 160.103 of the regulation.

The confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records maintained by this program is
protected by federal law and regulations. Generally, the program may not say to a person outside
the program that a patient attends the program, or disclose any information identifying a patient as
an alcohol or drug abuser even if:

Are employers required to submit enrollments by the standard transactions?

Employers