HIPAA is going to be severely tested in the post-Roe world

[genxlib]

The witch hunts that are bound to take place are going to get ugly.

At the end of the day, it seems like actual medical information is going to be needed in order to actually establish any potential "guilt" (and I use the term very loosely and only in the framework of something being against the law).

Where this "evidence" of wrongdoing comes from is going to get very complicated.

[lark]

12. I truly expect them to overturn HIPPA saying there is no right to privacy.

Fascists don't do privacy for poor or working class folks - just for themselves and the other rich.

[SKKY]

2. I've been saying this for a while. If Roe gets overturned, and knowing Republicans...

...won't stop there, there will absolutely be a push to modify HIPAA that allows for unauthorized disclosure in the event of an abortion. Especially in states that are going to criminalize it, and criminalize anyone involved in it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. Apparently,HIPAA allows the release of information under subpeona, search warrant of court order

So, HIPAA isn’t likely to offer women any protection or privacy in a jurisdiction with an aggressive police dept or DA.

[FBaggins]

4. Also to state agencies if required by state law

But this jumps somewhat ahead. Almost all current bans target the clinic/doctor and few (any?) currently target the woman.

If a clinic chooses to violate that law... also violating a reporting requirement that is a HIPAA exception is pretty small beer. I doubt that any clinic will be able to defend "you can't prove that we're doing this because we've reported no procedures" - but I also doubt that the failure to report will be a substantial charge when compared to whatever the penalty is for operating such a clinic

[JCMach1]

7. HIPAA can't be used to shield 'criminal' activity

If states criminalize abortion, they would have record access

[PortTack]

10. They first have to get the blue states to go along. Most have already said they will not cooperate

[JCMach1]

13. Yeah, going to be a mess... And remember there are all those insurance

Databases now...

[genxlib]

14. That supposes their actually is criminal activity

But there are several situations where that might not be the case.

ie

-you are the GP and administered a pregnancy test without any knowledge of what happened after that.

-no actual abortion was performed but the patient lost the baby naturally

- no abortion was performed but a practice provided testing of fetus or health check on the mother that could be used as a motive for seeking an abortion.

-you are a mental health practitioner dealing with patients that may share their difficulties. Even if it does not extend to actual intent to abort. Just a mention of being pregnant.

The busy bodies are going to be after all kinds of information that wouldn't necessarily be directly covering criminal behavior.

It gets even worse when you consider the crazy laws that allow citizens to rat out each other for profit. It would not be out of the question for someone in the know to be tipping off someone else to seek the bounty.

[CrispyQ]

5. There was a story last week about apps that some hospital staff use that send data to Facebook.

This isn't that story, but here's some background.

The Sneaky Genius of Facebook's New Preventive Health Tool
The feature looks likely to fill gaps in care—and to further draw users into Facebook’s ecosystem.

By Sidney Fussell

JANUARY 8, 2020

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/01/facebook-launches-new-preventative-health-tool/604567/

snip...

Facebook Preventive Health targets users in broad strokes using only two data points: age and gender. If you opt in to the feature, Facebook will send you checkup-reminder notifications and suggest nearby sites for flu shots, cancer screenings, and blood-pressure tests, among others. In an October blog post, Abnousi said the feature will also suggest free clinics for the uninsured.

A spokesperson for Facebook denied that the Preventive Health tool is related to the Building 8 data-sharing proposal. Preventive Health, like many of the health initiatives led by Silicon Valley, doesn’t fall under the purview of HIPAA, the 1996 federal law protecting private patient information. Many experts say HIPAA is outdated, because its narrow definition of data collection does not cover the way tech companies collect and process health information.

“Physicians swear an oath to keep an individual’s data confidential,” Jesse Ehrenfeld, chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees, told me over email. “There’s currently no such obligation for technology companies and data aggregators or the data brokers to whom they might sell information.”

Many experts say HIPAA is outdated, because its narrow definition of data collection does not cover the way tech companies collect and process health information.

Too bad Congress is broken & can't fix things like this that affect all Americans. JFC, I am so fucking sick of republican'ts.

[MichMan]

6. If an employer is going to cover all travel expenses to travel to another state for an abortion

How are they going to know that was the reason ?

Are women going to have to show proof, or will they pay travel expenses for anyone who asks, no questions?

[Sympthsical]

8. Partner and I have been having conversations about this of late

He's a pharmacist and I'm becoming an RN. We discuss patient care procedures all the time, and I always ask, "Ok, when does X violate HIPAA?" Because I can be a talker, so starting my profession with a foundation on when I can't talk is always a good idea. We were having a long conversation the other day about an early adolescent trying to access PEP (post-exposure HIV medication) and whether or not reporting procedures come into play given the age. Halfway through, I was like, "Should we be talking about this?" (It was fine, because he gave no identifying information).

It's actually interesting to watch him work (we both work from home). Even though he's a higher up, his surface level interaction with patient things includes very, very little personal information about the patient. If he wants to know who a patient actually is because it's important, he has to go through several different channels.

He said this is going to be a mess on several levels in various red states. Fortunately, we're in California so hopefully it will be minimum for him. But how doctors, pharmacists, and other health professions get caught in legal and bureaucratic webs is going to have a chilling effect on how and when they choose to administer care.

It isn't just about abortion. It's all the ripples that are going to roar through the healthcare system. And what happens in one state isn't going to leave another state unaffected. Everyone in the profession, even in the bluest of states, is going to have to grapple with all this in some form.

[PortTack]

9. Most of the blue states have said they will not cooperate with subpoenas from red states

That would include medical records

[Wounded Bear]

11. And, as always, the poor have little defense in the legal system...

while the wealthy are basically unfettered.