By DAVID HARLOW

The federales announced a new set of HIPAA regulations today (to be published in the Federal Register on July 14) in a press conference featuring Kathleen Sebelius (HHS Secretary), Georgina Verdugo (HHS OCR Director) and David Blumenthal (ONC Director).  The HIPAA changes are essentially mandated by the HITECH Act.  From the HHS presser:

The proposed rule announced today would strengthen and expand enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules by:

• expanding individuals’ rights to access their information and to restrict certain types of disclosures of protected health information to health plans;
• requiring business associates of HIPAA-covered entities to be under most of the same rules as the covered entities;
• setting new limitations on the use and disclosure of protected health information for marketing and fundraising; and
• prohibiting the sale of protected health information without patient authorization.

Two new websites were announced as well.  One is a beefed-up version of the HIPAA data breach notification wall of shame, and the other is a new HHS privacy website directed at the general public, now up at hhs.gov/healthprivacy.

This website, a joint statement from ONC and OCR posted today, and the tenor of the federales’ remarks today indicate a deep concern about public perceptions concerning privacy and security of protected health information — sort of a “what if we throw a party and nobody comes?” vibe.Continue reading…

By DAVE DURENBERGER

Former Republican Senator Dave Durenberger was always the sensible Republican on health care. He now hangs out in a small institute called the National Institute of Health Policy at a small Minnesota college called the University of St. Thomas. Every so often he puts out great commentary emails. His most recent one contains a really a great description of what happened to health insurance in the late 1990s. You can sign up here. Well worth a read and I’ve reprinted the part about insurance below—Matthew Holt

I’ve watched the ups and downs of health insurance products and “markets” since involving myself as an employer in the 70s in a community-wide effort by large employers to provide employees with a choice of health insurance plans, including the nascent HMO. Our goal was reducing health care costs through informed employees and accountable health plans, creating, in effect, new forms of insurance and competitive markets for insurance and medical services at the community level by using available information and consumer choices to facilitate behavior change.

While experiments like this across the country have been tried with varying success, we are now on the verge of doing a “back to the future” adaptation of our lessons learned. The health reform law (ACA) provides for state-based health insurance regulation, health insurance exchanges and a new emphasis in assisting “smart buys” by employees. Recall what happened to the HMO: It became large national “managed care organizations” like UnitedHealth Care (UHC) who lost community support for their behavior change because savings never stayed with those who earned them.

Continue reading…