Mitch Wagner writes: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule to beef up penalties for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA), as several Congressmen criticize the agency for leaving dangerous loopholes in the law. HHS published the rule with requests for comments Friday. It goes into effect

These new regulations come at a time when healthcare breaches are on the rise; according to the 2009 ITRC Breach Stats Report healthcare breaches account for over 66 percent of all records breached this year, up from 20 percent in 2008. In fact, some of the largest names in healthcare suffered data breaches. comments

... access controls may be more important to securing the national health information infrastructure although perimeter controls are by no means ... interoperability of data exchange should all be formed as soon as possible. A nationwide health information data exchange will contain extremely private ... greatest impediment to the adoption of electronic health records is privacy"Web-based personal ...

... exchanges Translation: Requiring everyone to buy federally sanctioned health insurance, and then forcing qualified plans to comply with ... health records. 5. Personal health information Translation: Think your health privacy is protected? It's not. This language refers ... law permits individuals' personal health information to be exchanged – for many broad purposes – without patients' ...

... the federal government in charge of individuals’ insurance choices and data privacy. This is all done, of course, in the name of covering the uninsured. It is also being done without the consent of the governed –only 35% to 40% ... health bill are multiple provisions that undermine the patient’s health freedoms and privacy. The bill contains sections that mandate insurance for individuals, ...

... language must be inserted into a company's online Privacy Policy: a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (d), if a business has an established ... elects to add the words "Your California Privacy Rights" to the home page' ... duties do not predominantly involve ensuring the safety or health of the business's customers. It includes, but is not limited to, employees ...