{"id":13041,"date":"2024-12-22T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=13041"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T17:08:19","slug":"understanding-hipaa-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/estate-planning\/understanding-hipaa-release\/","title":{"rendered":"We Wish You a Merry HIPAA: Families Should Get Practical This Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps there was a master plan that caused the traditional family gatherings of <\/span>Thanksgiving<\/span><\/a>, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas to fall so close together. If you are into conspiracy theories, you might even question the motive behind throwing family members into close contact for days on end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The incidental benefit is that after all the forced family togetherness, you now have a good idea regarding who you want to name on your HIPAA release. What, you ask is a HIPAA release?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a HIPAA Release?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

HIPAA stands for the <\/span>Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act<\/span><\/a>. It is a federal law that protects your medical information from wrongful disclosure. Contrary to popular belief, it is just one type of privacy law; others include the <\/span>Texas Medical Records Privacy Act <\/span><\/a>and the <\/span>Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The HIPAA laws impose truly awe-inspiring penalties on the person or company who commits a wrongful disclosure, which makes hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers extremely cautious\u2013some would say paranoid\u2013about disclosing your healthcare information to anyone other than you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How HIPAA Works<\/span><\/h3>\n

The practical result? If you wind up in the emergency room after a car accident, the hospital may refuse to release any information about your condition to your parents, children, spouse, siblings, clergy members, and friends. That means the important people in your life will find it impossible to find the information they need to help you make decisions or act to protect you.<\/span><\/p>\n

HIPPA Release in Action<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you do not want this result, then the easy answer is to sign a global HIPAA release as part of your estate planning. This document appoints one or more persons or entities as \u201cauthorized recipients\u201d to receive your medical information. You can pick and choose what you want to disclose, such as:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n