HIPAA does not offer the privacy protection that may think it does.
Your Healthcare data is sold and shared among 8000+ entities.
Data brokers, insurers and providers make $2+ Billion dollars per year trading what they know about you and your loved ones.
Go to thedatamap.org to learn more.
< img src=”http://thedatamap.org/map2013/map2013hipaa.jpg";;>
 Flows not covered by HIPAA are in bold.
Of the hundreds of flows of personal health data documented on thedatamap, only half are actually covered by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA governs the sharing of personal health information in the United States, but only applies to those entities involved in the direct billing of patient care. So, HIPAA covers some of the data flows from physicians and hospitals, but not all. A noteworthy exception is Discharge Data, which is authorized by state laws. Hospitals and physicians send a copy of each visit to the state and the state, in turn, often shares the data in ways less protective than HIPAA warrants.
< img src=”http://thedatamap.org/fig2.jpg";;>
< img src=”http://thedatamap.org/map2013/map2013hipaa.jpg";>
 Flows not covered by HIPAA are in bold.
Of the hundreds of flows of personal health data documented on thedatamap, only half are actually covered by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA governs the sharing of personal health information in the United States, but only applies to those entities involved in the direct billing of patient care. So, HIPAA covers some of the data flows from physicians and hospitals, but not all. A noteworthy exception is Discharge Data, which is authorized by state laws. Hospitals and physicians send a copy of each visit to the state and the state, in turn, often shares the data in ways less protective than HIPAA warrants.
< img src=”http://thedatamap.org/fig2.jpg";>
I was always aware that HIPAA was much more of a farce than it has been made out to be. Mostly it is used as a club to keep inquiries from persons who are “not in the direct line of relationships” from finding out about the state of health of a friend or a relative beyond a certain degree of relationship.
HIPAA was used as a reason to adopt first, “civil unions”, then “same-sex marriages”, so that life partners could be allowed to make medical decisions in the event (rare, but plausible) the other life partner was incapacitated.
“Privacy” as a legal concept, is and has been, sort of a “dead letter” for years.
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