SELF-INSURERS: Organize to Protest Strict Privacy Rules
A group of self-insurers is banding together to lobby Congress over their concerns with pending patient-confidentially legislation, Business Insurance reports. The Self-Insurance Institute of America has announced the SIAA Alliance for Sensible Health Privacy Legislation. Its members are concerned that pending privacy legislation which "broadly aims to limit unauthorized and inappropriate use of private medical information" would not sufficiently address the "legitimate needs of those who are responsible for providing benefits." SIAA CEO James Kinder said "current legislative proposals do not fully recognize the unique need for workers' compensation and property/casualty self-insurers to have unrestricted access to health information." The group is particularly concerned about language that would "allow individuals to completely block access to their health information," preventing employers from verifying workers' compensation claims. SIAA member Stan Smith of Boyd Gaming Corp. said that if "federal privacy legislation is enacted, employers would lose the ability to manage medical claims, and that would lead to significant cost increases" (Fletcher, 3/29 issue).
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