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By now, just about all HR staffers should be well aware of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Enacted by Congress in 1996, HIPAA imposed a series of regulations to guarantee health insurance to a broader population, as well as secure individually identifiable health information.
HIPAA’s Title I protects health-insurance rights for individuals and their families if they change or lose jobs. Employers’ plans must now give workers insurance credit for the amount of time that they had prior credible health coverage without a break of 63 days or more.
Individuals may also qualify for health coverage under Title I’s special-enrollment rights, which guarantee insurance for those who lost it due to circumstances such as separation, divorce, unemployment, marriage, or the birth or adoption of a child.
Title I also limits the nature and number of restrictions that health-insurance companies can impose in regard to covering care for candidates’ pre-existing conditions. After HIPAA became law, group health plans could not exclude an individual’s pre-existing condition for more than 12 months after enrollment.
Not all health care plans must comply with Title I’s stipulations. Limited plans, such as dental or vision, do not need to meet the law’s standards. An all-encompassing health care plan that includes such benefits, however, does need to adhere to HIPAA’s rules.
(part 2 continued in next month’s issue) (Lea Hartog, 4/24/08, HR World)
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