Essay on ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a set of national standards created for the protection of health information; it is also known as a “Privacy Rule”. This rule was employed in 1996 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to address the use and disclosure of an individual’s health information as well as the standards for the individual’s privacy rights to understand and control the manner in which their information is used.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a statute endorsed by the U.S. Congress in 1996. It offers protections for many American workers which improves portability and continuity of health insurance coverage. The seven titles of the final law are Title I - Health care Access , Portability, Title II - Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse; administrative simplification; Medical Liability Reform; Title III – Tax-related Health Provisions; Title IV – Application and

The main page of the website is titled “Health Plans and Benefits.” This page defines a group health plan as “an employee welfare benefit plan established or maintained by an employer or by an employee organization (such as a union), or both, that provides medical care for participants or their dependents directly or through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise” (“Health Plans and Benefits,” n.d., para. 1). Furthermore, the website highlights ERISA as an important regulation that protects the rights of plan participants and beneficiaries. Users can learn more about ERISA by clicking the link titled “Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).” In addition to ERISA, the site provides information about Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). EBSA is responsible for regulating ERISA and providing both consumer information on health plans and compliance assistance for

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act establishes new requirements for health plans and insurers changed in order to expand access to affordable coverage, and prevent individuals from losing certain coverage. New coverage insurance market regulations will prevent health insurers from denying coverage to people for any reason, in which their health status, and charging people more based on their health status and gender. These new rules will also require that all new health plans provide extensive coverage that include at least a minimal set of services, caps annual out‐of‐pocket spending that does not impose cost‐sharing for preventive services, as well as no impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. For example, new insurance market regulations within private insurances allow young adults are able to stay in their parents health insurance up to the age 26. Once an employee has reached age 26 they have to upgrade from their parents insurance plan to defendant coverage plan eliminating annual and lifetime limits on coverage such as rescissions and waiting periods within 90 days. Health insurers will be prohibiting from placing an age limit to their coverage in case of fraud. Large employer that offer coverage plans will have to automatically places employs in to a low cost premium plan if the employ sign up or exit out of coverage. Overall health plan premiums will be able to vary based on an age, geographic area tobacco

HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed in1996. Act was created to establish procedures on medical information that was available to anyone that requested the information. HIPAA standardized security, privacy and created penalties for violating any of the policy. The compliance plan for HIPAA has five stages in order to make sure the act is followed according to process placed to help secure security information that could be violating the HIPAA compliance

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a piece of legislation enacted y the US Congress in 1974, after decades of similar legislation had been proposed and some of which had been enacted, but primarily as a means of addressing gaps in contemporary law and policy regarding employment pensions and retirement accounts (US Department of Labor, 2012). This legislation spells out certain requirements regarding information that retirement plan administrators must provide the participants and beneficiaries so that they can make pertinent decisions or take steps to safeguard their retirement savings, and also places certain guidelines and limitations on the conduct of managers of pension and retirement plans (USDOL, 2012). Government reporting standards and measures to ensure the protection of and proper access to retirement funds are also part of the legislation (USDOL, 2012).

After reading the Just The Facts excerpt and the case of McDowell V. Krawchison, I would have to say that I believe this employer violated COBRA. It is stated in the textbook that, “The COBRA requires that employers who have group health insurance plans and at least twenty employees offer continuation coverage to employees (and other beneficiaries if there is family coverage) who experience qualifying events that would otherwise cause the loss of their health insurance.” (Walsh, Pg. 486).

b) governmental law or program that provides disability or unemployment benefits as a result of the Insured Person’s job with the employer;

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a legislation designed to extend coverage to the uninsured, eliminate practices that include rescission and denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions, and lower health care costs. Moreover, the PPACA provides incentives to businesses to offer health insurance or impose penalties on business that do not provide coverage, and require individuals without health insurance to purchase reasonably priced polices through health insurance exchanges (Martocchio, 2014, p. 143). This health reform legislation was taken into effect in 2010, and is expected to complete implementation over the next few years.

Covered entities that are required to follow the privacy rule are health care plans, health care providers, and health care clearing

The first feature is that the website provides detailed information regarding the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Rebecca, T. (n.d) states that COBRA was, “…established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to help workers who lose their jobs maintain their employer-sponsored health insurance.” This section of the website is broken down into sections for employees, employers, posters and flyers, videos, and general information

however, they are some differences. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provides rights and protections for participants and beneficiaries in group health plans. It offers protection for workers and their families. The law provides additional opportunities to enroll in a group health plan if you lose other coverage or experience certain life events, for example, becoming disable or sick and can not work. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 rules contain many privacy, security, and breach notification. There are requirements that apply to individually identifiable health information. Protects records about individuals such as a name, social security number, or other identifying number or symbol must be kept confidential. An individual has rights

Health care system has evolved tremendously in the last few years, with many changes with the health care laws including but not limited to Universal Health Care, many individuals have choices when it comes to their coverage. According to healthcare.gov, in January of 2015, an employer with 50 or more full time employees will have to make an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment if a full time employee gets a lower health coverage premium cost if insurance is purchase in a marketplace. However, employers are not subject to this law if the numbers of employees are lesser than 50 but are still

The individual mandate was established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and works together with other ACA provisions to create a platform for affordable insurance for all (especially the poor and sick). The individual mandate requires most individuals to maintain minimum essential coverage for themselves and their dependents. Minimum essential coverage is listed in Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) along with its regulations. Comprehensive coverage is considered to be the minimum essential coverage, which includes public coverage such as Medicaid and Medicare, and private insurance such as individual insurance, employer-sponsored insurance, and non-group insurance. Those individuals who do not comply

 An employee must be provided the same level of medical benefits, disability insurance and leave as are offered for other medical conditions or disabilities.