HIPAAIIdentity theft has always been on my mind every time I use my debit card, but I wasn't too concerned about my health information until until I learned about HIPAA. This is a very important set of rules and standards that protect our privacy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a law approved by the United States Congress in 1996. It provides protections to many American workers, improving the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage. . The seven titles of the final law are Title I – Health Care Access, Portability, Title II – Prevention of Health Care Fraud and Abuse; administrative simplification; Medical liability reform; Title III – Tax provisions relating to health; Title IV – Application and compliance with the requirements of the group health plan; Title V – Income compensation; Title XI – General provisions, peer review, administrative simplification; Title XXVII – Ensuring the portability, availability and renewal of health insurance coverage. (Krager & Krager, 2008) The central part addresses portability and continuity of care as well as fraud prevention and privacy protection. Group health insurance plans cannot deny individual coverage due to a pre-existing health condition for more than 12 to 18 months after an individual's enrollment date. Title I allows individuals to reduce the coverage duration exclusion period before enrolling without a break in coverage for more than 62 days. Additionally, Title I grants special enrollment rights to individuals who lose health coverage under certain circumstances such as separation, divorce, death, job loss, and reduction in hours. (http://hipaa.ohio.gov/whitepapers/title1healthcareaccess.PDF)Due to the major influx...... middle of paper ......lion. Penalties are adjusted for violations corrected within the required time frame. (AMA, nd) Works citedAMA. (nd). http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement. pageApril 2002: http://hipaa.ohio.gov/whitepapers/title1healthcareaccess.PDFCenter for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (nd). https://www.cms.gov/TransactionCodeSetsStands/Jeffries, M. (nd). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/healthcare/insurance/hipaa3.htmKrager, D. and Krager, CH (2008). HIPAA for Healthcare Professionals. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (nd). http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/srsummary.html