HIPAA Explained

Jacqueline Myles Crain of Holland & Knight LLP in St. Petersburg, Flordia has recently published an informative article on the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act on estate planning.

The editors’ synopsis of her article, HIPAA–A Shield for Health Information and a Snag for Estate Planning and Corporate Documents, 40 Real Prop., Prob. & Tr. J. 357 (2005), reads as follows:

Since April 2003, you may have encountered the newly enacted Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rules as a patient or in other interactions with your physician or health insurer. The long list of requirements and documents associated with HIPAA did not appear overnight, and some of the effects of these regulations are just starting to emerge. This Article provides a brief explanation of the HIPAA Privacy Rules; delves into the effect of the Rules on wills, trusts, and other corporate agreements, and offers some practical suggestions for dealing with the effects of the Rules.