Healthcare consumers to pay for hippa - In the News - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Healthcare Financial Management, Oct, 2001

Compliance with the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) probably will cost every American healthcare recipient as much as $200 over the next three years. Estimates for the cost of HIPAA compliance vary, with Blue Cross estimating up to $42 billion, HHS estimating $6 billion, and the American Hospital Association estimating $22 billion. The cost of providing uniform electronic patient information and greater privacy for patient information will be passed along to the healthcare recipient, according to Harold Apple, CEO of Vive-Med Healthcare Solutions and Medical-Jobs Network, both based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Apple believes that HIPAA compliance is a greater challenge than becoming year 2000 compliant. Whereas the year 2000 computer bug represented an easily defined problem and solution, HIPAA presents a wide range of compliance problems that are unique to every hospital, medical practice, or supplier of medical goods. All companies with access to patient information or records are required to comply with HIPAA, and the law may have a disproportionate effect on employers with fewer than 50 employees that maintain individually identifiable patient records, according to Apple.