HIPAA is much more restrictive than most people realize. I had to learn about it for work, and I've never heard of exemptions for births or deaths. Most hospitals are so worried about HIPAA fines that they will go to great lengths to avoid giving out any information that might violate HIPAA. Even after a patient is deceased, information can't be given unless there is a release from the executor of the estate. If any hospital employee was caught looking up a politician or celebrity's records, they'd be disciplined or even fired.
Thanks for the information. I got slightly more results from a slightly less cursory search than my original search.
"Health information includes any information . . . that relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; the provision of health care to an individual; or the past, present, or future payment for health care to an individual. "
A PDF file, What_is_HIPAA. Yale U.
"HIPAA’s regulatory provisions apply to the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI) [defined as individually identifiable health information].
PHI is considered individually identifiable if it includes such information as name, address, telephone number, SSN . . . .
Included in PHI is "All elements of dates (except year) for dates related to an individual, including: birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death . . . ."
Researchers share PHI under slightly different rules and birth dates are exempt -- that may be the nuance I missed in my original post. The name was already known. Thanks again.
But it still seems to me that we are being hornswoggled because:
the hospital in question can deny being the birth hospital w/o violating HIPAA; otherwise they are admitting it because there appears to be nothing in HIPAA that prevents denial.. or more likely IMO they are covering for Obama by not denying it thus leaving the tumult in intact purposefully (or out of fear of the Chicago thugs and the thug in chief, TIC).
It's obvious that our fellow citizen Barack H. Obama feels he's above us little people who are required to release our long-form b.c. or we don't get no respect or service . . . What's the big deal?
All we are saying♩♪♫
is give release a chance♩♪♫