Posted on 06/04/2021 5:48:56 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to relax safety measures for people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and the country begins to reopen, many employers, businesses, families and friend groups are finding themselves in the at-times uncomfortable position of having to ask about others’ vaccination statuses.
Some Americans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), are balking at such questions and are claiming that asking about or requiring proof of vaccination is a violation of the HIPAA federal privacy law.
“Vax records, along with ALL medical records are private due to HIPPA rights,” Greene recently tweeted, misspelling the law’s acronym.
In the caption of an Instagram post that was flagged for containing false information, another person wrote, “If anyone asks for your vax status, tell them they have no right to know.”
That’s a common misconception but is “simply untrue,” said Robert Gatter, a professor with the Center for Health Law Studies at St. Louis University School of Law. Citing HIPAA as a reason to not disclose vaccination status is often a “knee-jerk reaction” that “quickly gets turned into a statement that sounds like law,” Gatter said. People sometimes say, “‘But I have a right not to be asked that question,’” he continued, “and it’s just not the case.”
Here’s what he and other experts say you need to know about the law.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The provision you cites says nothing of the sort. You are misreading it.
There is no cure for any of the different variant’s of flu that probably been around for going on 80 years.
Yet we’re supposed to believe that in less than a year they have a “vaccine” cure for this strain of flu (aka Covid 19), and all of a sudden the regular flu is nonexistent.
How can people still believe them?
But I don’t think employers are entitled to know the basis of your doctor visit, i.e., your symptoms or diagnosis.
Unless there is a State or Federal law that mandates employers must require records of inoculation for terms of employment, your PHI (Private Health Information) cannot be required under HIPAA law. You can freely give this information, but they cannot require it. Your private health information is absolutely protected!
Of interest:
PHI includes health records, health histories, lab test results, and medical bills. Essentially, all health information is considered PHI when it includes individual identifiers. Demographic information is also considered PHI under HIPAA Rules, as are many common identifiers such as patient names
https://www.hipaajournal.com/considered-phi-hipaa/
AIDS employees are covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. I looked it up because it struck me as being hypocritical too.
Living with HIV Infection Your Legal Rights in the Workplace Under the ADA
In reference to this specific issue, I would direct you to start with the Equality Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But if you need to consult with legal counsel that specializes in those areas, because the statutes and revised codes are not enough. Case law and court precedent often distort, confuse, and otherwise obfuscate the plain text of the law. Worse, one court will rule very differently on the same set of circumstances and evidence than a different court within the same district or circuit.
Consult an Employment Law attorney in your area.
My employer will terminate employees who compare salaries.
In one case at boeing there was a woman that talked way too much. We all knew exactly how much money she made. She was my peer. However, to the penny I made three times as much as her. No, I didn’t share it with anyone. I didn’t even tell her when my contract ended.
Meanwhile, this is funny and relevant to that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xH7eGFuSYI
Adam Ruins Everything - Why You Should Tell Coworkers Your Salary
It starts out with him handing out paychecks in a cubicle farm and sharing the amount verbally as he hands them out. :)
I was the president for a year of a local branch of a national non-profit org dedicated to promoting golf, mostly to businesswomen in order to network with other businesswomen, to learn the game and the rules and etiquette, in part to break the glass ceiling of networking and business deals on the golf course being once exclusively male dominated and also to get young girls to take up golf. Worthy org.
And yea, also to have women only golf tournaments, weekly twilight afterwork 9-holes fun rounds, hold golf clinics, get discounted golf lessons and yes, have fun.
One of the women on the board wasn’t doing her job. She was charged with getting sponsors for our tournaments and other events, prize donations, paid ads in our newsletters, finding vendors to give our members discounts, and for well over 6 months had done nothing, nada, zip, didn’t even show up for any board meetings.
After consulting with the board, consulting our by-laws and coming to the unanimous decision by the board to remove her from the board, I wrote an email to her (she wasn’t returning my phone calls) and in the very nicest of terms, thanked her for her membership and her service but explained we needed someone who could devote more time and energy to the job.
I sent the email to her and only cc’d only the most senior board members, not the entire board and to no one else.
She replied with a 6-page rambling email accusing me of “malfeasance” among other things I can’t even remember now and defended her poor performance on her medical condition and current medical treatments and all the Rx drugs she was taking for them which she described in very great detail in her email.
She sent that email not only to me, but to the entire board AND to nearly the half the membership AND to all our current sponsors AND all the executives at the national org.
After consulting with our VP who was an attorney and the national org, we drafted a reply, again sent only to her and with a cc to only the most senior board members and no one else but a BCC to the national org, expressing our wishes for her speedy recovery and our hopes that once she was able, to rejoin the board and of course join us on the course. And not referencing or mentioning her medical condition.
But also reiterating the need to replace her if only at this time for the good of the chapter.
She then sent a reply email that included her original email disclosing all her PHI, AGAIN to the entire board AND to now nearly the entire membership AND our current sponsors AND all the executives in the national org AND now also to my employer, stating that I had violated “HIPPA*” for divulging her personal protected health information and since I worked at the time for a covered entity (a 3rd party benefits enrollment, COBRA and FSA administrator) she was going to sue both me and my employer (who she named and included my employer’s address and phone number in her email) for a “HIPPA*” violation.
When my boss asked me what this was about, I said, “never, ever, ever volunteer to be on the board of a non-profit?”
Even though this woman had self-divulged her own PHI and neither my employer or I had ever had any access to her PHI, I had to be interviewed by both our internal HIPAA compliance officer for any possible breach but also by our 3rd party compliance oversight company.
I was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but it was like undergoing a colonoscopy.
When the president of the national org, called me to ask “what the hell happened?” and I explained, she said “that’s very unfortunate and you did nothing wrong, but we can’t get involved or provide you with any legal advice or defense” so basically “you’re on your own” and then in the next breath asked me if I was going to run for president of my chapter again, I answered “are you f’n kidding me?”
True story.
People and Employers should ask people if they’ve had abortions too. Wth.. Individual rights are dead.
Who Must Follow These Laws
We call the entities that must follow the HIPAA regulations "covered entities."
Covered entities include:
Health Plans, including health insurance companies, HMOs, company health plans, and certain government programs that pay for health care, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Most Health Care Providers—those that conduct certain business electronically, such as electronically billing your health insurance—including most doctors, clinics, hospitals, psychologists, chiropractors, nursing homes, pharmacies, and dentists.
Health Care Clearinghouses—entities that process nonstandard health information they receive from another entity into a standard (i.e., standard electronic format or data content), or vice versa.
In addition, business associates of covered entities must follow parts of the HIPAA regulations.
No fun. People are crazy.
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html
And this is quoted directly from your link:
Who Is Not Required to Follow These Laws
Many organizations that have health information about you do not have to follow these laws. Examples of organizations that do not have to follow the Privacy and Security Rules include:
Life insurers
Employers....
In short, HIPAA prevents health care providers from disclosing information without your permission. It does not prevent employers from asking about your medical status, or even from requiring you to provide documentation to support it. It just prevents health care providers from giving that information directly to employers without your consent.
Question,did this same attitude exist during the HIV AIDS panic?
They can ask you, but you do not have to answer. They cannot hold that against you. Trust me on this one. Go talk to a lawyer if you do not believe me.
I’ll put it to you this way. I know first hand Employers cannot do that. That comes from a big team of lawyers.
I know there are people in the media and college professors trying to claim it is something else.
Rest assured any company that ignores this law will most likely be tied down in litigation. Which will cost time and money. That’s certainly something they can afford right now.
Bingo!
As someone who has practiced employment law for nearly 30 years, I've noticed that far too many other attorneys are unwilling to take strong stances even when they are in the right. In this case, it would have taken one very blunt letter to her telling her that she voluntarily disclosed her health care information, that there is nothing approaching a violation of HIPAA, and that she is perfectly free to waste a lot of her own money to hire her own lawyer to tell her the same.
When you're indisputably in the right, there is no reason to mince words. Clunk them on the head with the 2X4, and tell them to get lost.
I know that it wasn't your position to do that, but your compliance people sound like gigantic p*ssies. But that's how compliance departments justify their staffing.
Can my employer require I upload proof of vaccination to our HR system where they "guarantee" it will be safe, secure and not seen by anyone who isn't "authorized" to see it?
BTW, who's "authorized" to see it @ my employer? They don't say who is. There's no disclosure of who can request to see it, no logging of who looks at it, nothing.
I have zero guarantee of my health privacy rights being respected.
Finally, if they can demand vaccination status, why not HIV status? Can they demand proof that anyone who has HIV is on suppressing medication?
Where does this slippery slope end? No one can say and that's the BIG problem right there.
BTW, if that top virologist is correct, that the “vaccine” will kill most people in 3 years. All these people pushing this are going to be facing criminally liable in addition to civilly.
“I did not know” will be the new “I was just following orders”
I tend to believe top virologists and practicing medical doctors around the world that are being censored for medical advise over politicians, Fauci (a guy who could not make it in the private sector), and a computer guy that is a college drop out for medical advise.
But hey go ahead and gamble your life for a rushed out untested mRNA.
In a nutshell, yes.
Problem 1. “Covered Entity.”
A Covered Entity is one of the following: A Health Care Provider, OR, A Health Plan, OR A Health Care Clearinghouse.
If an entity does not meet the definition of a covered entity or business associate, it does not have to comply with the HIPAA Rules. See definitions of “business associate” and “covered entity” at 45 CFR 160.103.
Problem 2. “No-private right of action.”
HIPAA doesn’t afford ANYONE a private right of action. You, as an individual, cannot bring a “HIPAA Claim” against ANYONE, INCLUDING a “covered-entity.” This has been litigated over and over and over again, with the same result.
Example:
“Significantly, however, there is no “private right of action to enforce HIPAA” when an individual believes that a disclosure was wrongfully made. Because the statute does not provide a private right of action, and “does not provide a remedy in court for those persons who believe their [HIPAA] rights have been violated,” Plaintiff is unable to state a cognizable claim for a HIPAA violation. Consequently, his claims for HIPAA violations are DISMISSED.” Emmerick v. Ridgecrest Reg’l Hosp., No. 1:17-cv-01160- DAD - JLT, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21115, at *9 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 8, 2018).
“HIPAA prohibits the disclosure of medical records without a patient’s consent. But the statute does not expressly create a private cause of action for individuals to enforce this prohibition. Instead, HIPAA provides for penalties to be imposed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Nor does the statute imply a private cause of action. By delegating enforcement authority to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the statute clearly reflects that Congress did not intend for HIPAA to create a private Accordingly, because HIPAA confers no private cause of action, express or implied, we must dismiss Meadows’ claims.” Meadows v. United Servs., 963 F.3d 240, 244 (2d Cir. 2020).
“Likewise, every circuit to have considered the issue has also held that no private right of action exists under HIPAA. See Meadows v. United Servs., Inc., 963 F.3d 240, 244 (2d Cir. 2020); Faber v. Ciox Health, LLC, 944 F.3d 593, 596-97 (6th Cir. 2019); Stewart v. Parkview Hosp., 940 F.3d 1013, 1015 (7th Cir. 2019); Dodd v. Jones, 623 F.3d 563, 569 (8th Cir. 2010); Wilkerson v. Shinseki, 606 F.3d 1256, 1267 n.4 (10th Cir. 2010); United States v. Streich, 560 F.3d 926, 935 (9th Cir. 2009); Acara v. Banks, 470 F.3d 569, 570-71 (5th Cir. 2006). HIPAA generally prohibits the disclosure of medical records without a patient’s consent. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1320d-1 to 1320d-7. While it provides civil penalties for improper disclosures of medical information, it does not expressly create a private cause of action to enforce the prohibition on disclosure. Instead, it limits enforcement of the statute to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. See 42 U.S.C. § 1320d-5. For that reason, no private right of action can be implied. “By delegating enforcement authority to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the statute clearly reflects that Congress did not intend for HIPAA to create a private remedy.” Meadows, 963 F.3d at 244; see Alexander, 532 U.S. at 290 (”The express provision of one method of enforcing a substantive rule suggests that Congress intended to preclude others.”). Accordingly, Laster cannot state a claim to relief under HIPAA.” Laster v. Careconnect Health Inc., No. 20-14726, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 11481, at *5 (11th Cir. Apr. 20, 2021)
Problem 3. “Public Health Exceptions to HIPAA.”
Generally, disclosure of protected health information without the authorization of the individual is permitted for purposes including but not limited to: disclosures required by law (45 CFR § 164.512(a)) or
for “public health activities and purposes.” This includes disclosure to “a public health authority that is authorized by law to collect or receive such information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability, including but not limited to, the reporting of disease, injury, vital events…, and the conduct of public health surveillance,… investigations, and… interventions.” (45 CFR § 164.512(b)(i)).
Vaccine mandates, Vaccine passports and the rest of the tyrannical regulations that are being pushed are un-American and should be opposed by any and all means possible. They should be resisted, even to the point of civil disobedience. However, HIPAA isn’t the savior that people think that it is here. We need to push for State restrictions on “vaccine passports” and ignore other mandates.
Employers have no real way to check your vaccination status if you provide them a card. (Wink) and neither would Karen at the Walmart door.
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