Health Insurance Portability Provision

On August 21, 1996 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed (HIPAA). There was a dual purpose which was to make distribution of health care more efficient and to help the increasing number of Americans enrolling in their health insurance coverage (Nass, Levit, & Gostin, 2009). There were three main provisions of the Act: (1) the portability provisions, (2) the tax provisions, and (3) the administrative simplification provisions. With the advances of technology in the early 1990’s, Congress recognized that the advances could hurt the privacy of patient’s health information. Because more doctors’ offices and hospitals are using technology, the use of electronic health care information, along with the beginning