Medical Insurance By Midnight

Sometimes people are surprised by losing their medical insurance. They find out it will end the day of, day before, or a few days after their coverage has ended. Sometimes it can take a few days or even weeks to get a new policy in place. There are plans available that will cover you by midnight. Short term health insurance plans are available online and can be in place by midnight of the night you submit your application. These plans are not designed to take the place of your regular coverage because they will end in six months and you will need to reapply to continue the coverage after that point. But the benefits for hospitalization, emergency room, or surgeries will be the same as the coverage people are familiar with.

Short term health insurance plans are full major medical plans that go through the approval process with the departments of insurance just like any other available plans. They are instant issue plans if you purchase them over the internet. Instant issue means that if you answer a few health questions on the application that you do not have any of the medical problems, then the plan will be issued. It is not guaranteed issue because you might be turned down for coverage if you do not qualify after the medical history survey. But it usually takes less than five minutes to have your entire policy packet emailed to you for coverage that starts by midnight.

Short term health insurance plans generally cost much less than other plans because it is basic coverage. Every new illness or injury is covered subject to a deductible and co insurance. There are no co payments for doctor visits or prescription drugs. These plans do not offer benefits for preventive care either. But it does qualify as continuous coverage as you will be issued a certificate of continuous coverage at the end of the policy. This means that any policy that you get after the end of this coverage will not have a waiting period for pre existing conditions. This is one reason that many people purchase short term health insurance plans. They need the coverage but they don't expect to use it. They get the highest deductible so that they will not suffer a waiting period for pre existing conditions on their new policy. If you go without coverage for more than 62 days then you will probably have a waiting period for any new pre existing conditions.

If you need coverage right away, short term health insurance plans are a great alternative.

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What Are The Various Password Regulations For HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) helps safeguard all protected information of patients. There are various guidelines and requirements that are stipulated by HIPAA and these need to be fulfilled by all covered entities. The medical records of patients are stored and transmitted electronically and there are various safeguards that need to be in place to ensure compliance of HIPAA.

All the files that contain confidential information of patients will also need to be safeguarded with passwords. Most covered entities keep a log of who is accessing the information and this will help in knowing about any unauthorized access.

Top 5 Steps Of Password Regulations In HIPAA

1. As all the confidential information of patients is stored and transmitted electronically, it is important that it is password protected. This will help in preventing any unauthorized access to medical records of patients.

2. All employees who will have access to the confidential information of patients will need to be trained about the importance of password protecting all documents that are stored electronically. If different employees will be accessing the records, it is advisable to have different passwords so that no one is aware about the other person's password. This will help in preventing unauthorized access.

3. The passwords that are used to protect these documents should be strong. It would be advisable to use a combination of alphabets, numeric and special characters in the password. This will ensure that they cannot be tampered with easily.

4. In the initial stages of password allocation it is generated automatically and after this process is completed, employees will be able to assign passwords on their own. There are usually no specific requirements regarding the length of the password and this can vary as per the preference of the employee.

5. It would also be advisable to change the password of the medical records periodically. Most covered entities have policies in place that stipulate that the password needs to be changed every 90 or 120 days. The passwords can be changed earlier than this too depending on the policy of the covered entities regarding this.

It is important that all covered entities keep the passwords secure. They should be accessible only to people who are authorized to have access to these medical records. You should also take care not to display them openly so that anyone can get access to them.

The password should not be written in any place. This will help in preventing any unauthorized access to protected information of patients. These safeguards will ensure that the medical records of patients are kept safe. If these records are not kept safe they can be misused for commercial purposes.

If the various rules and regulations of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act are not fulfilled with regard to safeguard of confidential information, it can lead to various penalties. The penalties can vary from civil to criminal depending on the extent and nature of the violations. This can include fines or imprisonment or both if the records are not secured with good passwords.

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What Are The HIPAA Checklist Items For Physicians?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) helps in protecting any confidential information of patients that is stored and transmitted electronically. There are various provisions of HIPAA that specify guidelines that need to be followed in this regard.

HIPAA has specified various organizations known as covered entities that will be subject to these rules and regulations. The privacy and security rules of HIPAA will need to be adhered to by all employees of covered entities. The employees will need to be trained to handle the protected information of patients in a correct way to avoid any intentional or unintentional violation.

5 HIPAA Checklist Points For Physicians

The physicians will need to ensure that all medical records of patients that are stored electronically or physically are safeguarded as per the specifications of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The confidential information could relate the patient's past and current medical records. The vital information that is usually provided by the patient to the physician includes name, address, social security number, date of birth and any other information that can be classified as identifiers. This would mean that any individual who accesses the information will be able to identify the patient easily. Due to this it is necessary that all safeguards are put in place to secure this information and keep it safe. If the protected health information is requested by the patient it must be released to them. Physicians are also permitted to use the protected information of patients for treatment purposes. If the confidential information of the patient is to be used for other purposes then physicians will need to take an authorization from the patient to access the information. Authorization from the patient will not be required for disclosing the information for national priority purposes. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act have identified nearly twelve instances when the protected information of patients can be accessed without any authorization. Federal agencies would be able to access the protected information based on court orders. Physicians should have administrative, physical and technical safeguards in place to ensure that the confidential information of patients is not abused or misused. These safeguards will ensure that there is no unauthorized access to medical records.

If any physician is found guilty of any violation they would have to face penalties that can be both civil and criminal. The penalties are usually in the form of fine and imprisonment. The extent of penalties would depend on the nature of the violation that has been committed.

When the information is transmitted electronically, it must be encrypted and password protected. These mechanisms will ensure that only authorized individuals will be able to access the medical records of patients.

If the old records of patients need to be destroyed there should be enough safeguards in place to ensure that it is done properly. It is advisable to use a shredder for destroying all old records. All these simple measures by the physicians will ensure that the protected information of patients is safe.

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What Are The HIPAA Regulations For Nursing Homes And Nurses

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) recognizes nursing homes as covered entities where protected information of patients is stored and transmitted electronically. Adequate steps need to be taken by these organizations to safeguard the confidential medical information of patients. This will ensure that no unauthorized access to this information takes place.

The security and privacy rules of HIPAA need to be followed and this will ensure that the health care information of patients is not accessed by anyone other than the patient and the physician. The privacy rules of HIPAA stipulate that written permission should be provided by the patient for access of their medical records.

Apart from doctors, nurses play a critical role in the treatment process of a patient and this puts them into direct contact with the confidential information of patients. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act recognize nurses too as covered entities and they must take all steps to ensure that the medical records are safeguarded.

There are usually hundreds of records of patients that are transmitted electronically and if there are not enough safeguards, there are chances that this might be misused.

Top 5 HIPAA Regulations For Nurses And Nursing Homes

Nurses usually have access to medical charts of patients, treatment plans, prescriptions, lab reports and any other information that is crucial for the treatment of patients. They will not only be accessing this information but also transmitting and storing them electronically and this would mean that they have to follow all the compliance rules of HIPAA. If a nurse wants access to any specific medical record they should have a valid reason for that and would require permission from the patient. The protected information of the patient should not be disclosed to anyone by the nurses. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibit any such disclosure and there are stringent penalties imposed if there is any violation. HIPAA also prohibit nurses from passing any unauthorized information to insurance companies. If a patient is denied any medical care due to the result of information been passed by the nurses to the insurance companies then the nurses might even lose their job. Even school nurses who are working in universities or other educational institutions will be covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This will mean that they will need to comply with all the provisions of HIPAA.

The protected information of patients is not just transmitted and stored electronically but it is also maintained as physical records. These physical records must be kept in a safe and secure place so that any unauthorized access is prevented.

All nursing homes and nurses who have access to the protected information of patients will need to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. There should be guidelines within the organization that lay down rules and regulations on how this confidential information is used and accessed. There should also be compliance reviews that should be conducted by these organizations so that checks and counter checks can be put into place.

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What Are The Exceptions To The Confidentiality Rules Of HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that was passed as a federal law in 1996 and it help in safeguarding the confidential information of patients. There are very stringent regulations of HIPAA that need to be followed and any violations will attract penalties. The penalties can include fines or imprisonment depending on the nature and extent of the violation.

The protected information of patients can only be accessed by health care service providers who are authorized to do so. In most cases even these health care service providers and health insurance companies will need permission from the patient to access their records for specific purposes.

Top 5 Exceptions To Confidentiality Rules Of HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rules will not be applicable under certain circumstances and this would mean that access to the confidential information will be allowed. When the federal law authorizes disclosure of medical records then no permission will be required from the patient. Similarly there are also some state laws that can authorize access to the medical records without authorization. If the protected information is needed for completing a legal process of law then the privacy law of HIPAA will not be applicable. If an individual threatens to commit suicide or harm others then the various laws of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will not apply. This will help in preventing any kind of harm. The disclosure of confidential information of patients can also be done for public safety reasons. For instance if an individual has a communicable disease then information about it needs to be disclosed so that public safety can be ensured. Researchers, funeral directors, coroners and medical examiners will also be able to access the protected information of patients without any specific authorizations. There is usually a board constituted by the institutions and this board will decide on each disclosure that needs to be made. If the medical bills are unpaid then administrative disclosures can be made to various agencies. There are various federal agencies that can have access to the protected information of patients.

Apart from these exceptions the medical records of patients cannot be accessed for any other purpose. If there is an unauthorized access to the protected information there are various civil and criminal penalties that can be imposed.

All covered entities will need to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The exceptions to the rules and regulations of HIPAA should be done only for specific purposes that are identified by the Act. All health care organizations will need to follow these exceptions to fulfill the federal law that overrides HIPAA.

The exceptions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act need not follow the security and privacy rules that will help in preventing any kind of access to protected information. These guidelines and requirements will need to be fulfilled by all organizations that are classified as covered entities by HIPAA. It is not necessary that the patient be informed about the access to their protected information.

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Health Insurance - Family Requirement

Today Health Insurance has become family requirement. With the increasing spread of various diseases and hospitalization becoming essential due to ailments or accidents, the requirement of having health insurance has become more eminent.

The life style changes have been a root cause of many common diseases like obesity, diabetes. Though many feel to make amends in their life style few can do it for practical difficulties. The lack of time and energy both makes it impossible for many people to effectively undertake daily exercise to control their health problems.

As a result of wrong diet, lack of adequate sleep, mounting stress and burden of office work in addition to rising transport problems has made life of people more troublesome. It has raised the rate of hospitalization in people of all ages.

The cost of hospitalization has increased manifold in last decade. Increasing cost of medicines, consultancy charges of health experts, diagnosis charges and all related hospitalization expenses are increasing and making it burdensome for common man. It is therefore essential that one should guard against the eventuality of such hospitalization for any one member of the family. Taking appropriate health insurance cover is the remedy or way of managing financial crisis due to hospitalization.

The health insurance or the medical policy called by any name takes care of pre-hospitalization consultancy, medicines, and laboratory tests. It also commonly covers post hospitalization treatment for certain period depending upon the nature of the policy. During hospitalization all types of expenditure like medicines, drugs, operation charges, anesthesia, ambulance charges etc are taken care of by the policy.

The increasing rate of accidents taking place every day further increases the possibility of anyone becoming victim. The new age speedy vehicles, roads full of traffic and lack of attention while driving are main causes of increase in number of accidents. Accidents can be fatal one even causing loss of limbs or making one permanent disable. In that situation health insurance policy would come to rescue of such accident victim. It would try to reduce the financial burden due to accident and also assist in restoring back the loss of pay to certain extent depending upon the coverage of the policy.

The right time to buy health insurance is any time- preferably when the person is not having any kind of disease or ailment like diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, arthritis etc. Because all existing diseases are normally covered under exclusions of any such policy. Further known and declared diseases would have to wait for the waiting period to be over to get the claim settled. As such it is always beneficial to have medical insurance policy purchased when you are completely fit.

It is also advisable to take health insurance for the family. Family floater policies are made available by almost all companies. It thus covers the risk of every member of the family including a small child. We cannot foresee who would require hospitalization and at what time. It is beneficial from tax saving point of view as spending on this count get special exemption under Sec. 80 D of Indian Income Tax Act.

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