Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into federal law in 1996 Public Law 104-191.  HIPAA requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt standards for electronic transactions, including data elements, standard code sets, unique health identifiers, security safeguards and privacy standards.

The primary intent and purpose of this law is to protect health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs.  It was recognized that this new protection would impose additional administrative burdens on health care providers, payers and clearinghouses; and therefore, the law includes Section 262, Administrative Simplification.   This section is specifically designed to reduce the administrative burden association with the electronic transfer of health information between organizations, and more generally, to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the United States health care system.  This approach accelerates the move from certain paper-based administrative and financial transactions to electronic transactions through the establishment of national standards.

Child and Family Connections of Central Illinois HIPAA Administrator
Eric Sary
Phone:  309-686-1177