Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
View Point
THE Hawaii Medical Privacy Act should be repealed. Hawaii Medical
Privacy Act should
be repealedNo other law in my memory has ignited the kind of widespread confusion and anxiety as did this act upon its effective date last year.
When this law was passed with all good intentions to protect our medical records, no one could have foreseen the severity of its impact on normal business activity throughout the community.
Upon its effective date in July, its ramifications became alarmingly clear.
Everyone -- from the Civil Rights Commission to businesses large and small, and particularly the medical and insurance communities -- was paralyzed.
The state Department of Health experienced delays in disease reporting, when delays of even a few hours could have resulted in the exposure of dozens of people to serious and even life-threatening diseases.
Insurance carriers and employers faced the prospect of having to seek thousands of specifically designed authorizations to permit the release of medical information to process workers' compensation, disability insurance and other insurance claims.
Many businesses, physicians and human resource managers were shocked that disclosure of employee or patient medical information could subject them to severe penalties and even imprisonment. They were understandably frightened.
The confusion surrounding the Medical Privacy Act continued to mount.
I sought to hear from organizations and individuals affected by the law. Thousands of dollars in fees had already been spent by groups seeking legal advice on how to comply.
However, the advice was often contradictory. Relief could not wait until the next legislative session.
Last August, I requested that the Legislature in special session defer the act's implementation until July 2001 to give us time to address this myriad of complex concerns.
THE Legislature overwhelmingly agreed to delay the act's effective date to July 1 of this year, and requested that the Medical Privacy Task Force study and make recommendations to resolve the confusion.
This legislation saved our businesses millions of dollars in compliance and implementation costs. These costs would have had a ripple effect on all of us as consumers.
Since that time, the federal government has stepped in by issuing regulations protecting medical records.
After nearly 10 years of debate, the Department of Health and Human Services issued new regulations in late December limiting doctors, hospitals and insurance companies from sharing confidential medical information about their patients. More federal medical privacy regulations are expected.
With federal action under way, it is clear that a state medical privacy law would result in mass confusion, unnecessary costs and duplication of effort -- a result completely at odds with my "Slice Waste and Tape" efforts to reduce the burden of government regulations.
The prescription to cure the ill is repeal.
Mazie Hirono is lieutenant governor of the State of Hawaii.