Capitol Beat

Thursday, September 26th, 2002 Catastrophe Life & Health Litigation Property

The Bush administration has rolled back some major protections for the privacy of medical records adopted by President Bill Clinton. Health care providers and insurers must comply by April 14 or face civil and criminal penalties, including fines of up to $250,000 and 10-year prison terms. Under the new rules, information from medical records cannot be disclosed to employers without specific patient authorization. Patients will be allowed to review their medical records and request changes to correct errors, and the use of medical records will be permitted for the tracking of disease, provided that those records are stripped of all identifying information.

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http://www.claimsmag.com/Issues/sept02/capitol_beat.asp

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