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Extremely false. Hippa applies to all and is meant to protect people from discrimination on health matters. These policies will end up in court eventually and

Extremely false. Hippa applies to all and is meant to protect people from discrimination on health matters. These policies will end up in court eventually and companies will argue the law moves too slowly for the concerns of the day and they had to make a decision they felt was best for safety of their employees.

TulliusCicero 5y ago
This is incorrect. HIPPA prevents sharing info without consent. If you choose to give the info to your employer, HIPPA doesn't apply.
- conductr 5y ago
  Well of course you do get to choose to waive your rights to hippa protections, you can waive any right you want. But you do not have to give your records and they aren’t allowed to obtain them without your consent. They’re also not allowed to “punish” you for failing to provide your health records. In this context, someone in the office may get promoted and someone WFH may think they deserved it. So they’ll sue on grounds that vaccinated people in the office are receiving advantage. Not saying it’s right or wrong but prior to covid this type of thing was an HR/legal nightmare any company would steer clear of.
  - TulliusCicero 5y ago
    > Well of course you do get to choose to waive your rights to hippa protections, you can waive any right you want. It's not waiving your right to HIPAA protections, because HIPAA protections literally do not apply in this scenario. > 3028 - If my employer requires proof of my COVID-19 vaccination status, does that violate my rights under HIPAA? > In general, the HIPAA Rules do not apply to employers or employment records. HIPAA only applies to HIPAA covered entities – health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses – and, to some extent, to their business associates. If an employer asks an employee to provide proof that they have been vaccinated, that is not a HIPAA violation, and employees may decide whether to provide that information to their employer. https://www.hhs.gov/answers/if-my-employer-requires-proof-of-my-covid-19-vaccination-status/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/answers/if-my-employer-requires-proof-of...
    - conductr 5y ago
      Interesting. I have been on various meetings since the beginning of covid with general counsel telling us of all the pitfalls of hippa issues. I wonder if HHS published this specifically to promote clarification. It’s against the wide spread legal opinions that have circulated. Maybe the impending lawsuit is expensive enough that most attorneys are being overly conservative on the advice.
      - TulliusCicero 5y ago
        I dunno what sources you've been looking at, but I haven't seen that for legal opinions from actually informed parties, only from anti-vaxxers and the like.
        conductr 5y ago
        It's pretty prevalent in corporate general counsel. I've heard the same thing from at least 5 company's I've worked at so I had never done my own research like you have. I figured it was truth. I do not think they are anti-vaxxers but they are conservative people that like to avoid litigation and I believe the laws were a bit ambiguous before this COVID specific clarification was issued by HHS. I've never heard of any employer asking for any health information of their employee unless it's like a doctor's note saying they were fit to work or something similarly vague. Prior to COVID, if you asked an employee for, say, proof of HIV negative. And they actually gave you proof of HIV positive. Anything that happens afterwards (termination, promoting another employee, denial of PTO, etc) the employee can sue you because they believe you are discriminating on their HIV status. IANAL and don't care to research it myself but I've heard this sentiment repeated countless times in meetings with senior HR and Legal executives, so I believe it true. All said, I do work in the healthcare industry. So maybe the HIPPA laws for our patients have been applied to our employees and there is some mixup around that. Either way, after 20 years in the industry this is news to me, appreciate the discourse.
  - majormajor 5y ago
    > They’re also not allowed to “punish” you for failing to provide your health records. Where are you getting this belief from? We literally have had vaccine requirements for various places for decades...
esalman 5y ago
It only applies to one's care providers. Source: I work with human subject data, have to take training each year.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Hippa applies to all and is meant to protect people from discrimination on health matters No, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is not a workplace anti-discrimination act. You are, while also probably misunderstanding the lower-level details, confusing its basic purpose and function with something else, probably the Americans with Disabilities Act.
dekhn 5y ago
you misunderstand this law. the law is confusing but the terms are well understood.

TulliusCicero 5y ago

This is incorrect. HIPPA prevents sharing info without consent. If you choose to give the info to your employer, HIPPA doesn't apply.

conductr 5y ago
Well of course you do get to choose to waive your rights to hippa protections, you can waive any right you want. But you do not have to give your records and they aren’t allowed to obtain them without your consent. They’re also not allowed to “punish” you for failing to provide your health records. In this context, someone in the office may get promoted and someone WFH may think they deserved it. So they’ll sue on grounds that vaccinated people in the office are receiving advantage. Not saying it’s right or wrong but prior to covid this type of thing was an HR/legal nightmare any company would steer clear of.
- TulliusCicero 5y ago
  > Well of course you do get to choose to waive your rights to hippa protections, you can waive any right you want. It's not waiving your right to HIPAA protections, because HIPAA protections literally do not apply in this scenario. > 3028 - If my employer requires proof of my COVID-19 vaccination status, does that violate my rights under HIPAA? > In general, the HIPAA Rules do not apply to employers or employment records. HIPAA only applies to HIPAA covered entities – health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses – and, to some extent, to their business associates. If an employer asks an employee to provide proof that they have been vaccinated, that is not a HIPAA violation, and employees may decide whether to provide that information to their employer. https://www.hhs.gov/answers/if-my-employer-requires-proof-of-my-covid-19-vaccination-status/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/answers/if-my-employer-requires-proof-of...
  - conductr 5y ago
    Interesting. I have been on various meetings since the beginning of covid with general counsel telling us of all the pitfalls of hippa issues. I wonder if HHS published this specifically to promote clarification. It’s against the wide spread legal opinions that have circulated. Maybe the impending lawsuit is expensive enough that most attorneys are being overly conservative on the advice.
    - TulliusCicero 5y ago
      I dunno what sources you've been looking at, but I haven't seen that for legal opinions from actually informed parties, only from anti-vaxxers and the like.
      - conductr 5y ago
        It's pretty prevalent in corporate general counsel. I've heard the same thing from at least 5 company's I've worked at so I had never done my own research like you have. I figured it was truth. I do not think they are anti-vaxxers but they are conservative people that like to avoid litigation and I believe the laws were a bit ambiguous before this COVID specific clarification was issued by HHS. I've never heard of any employer asking for any health information of their employee unless it's like a doctor's note saying they were fit to work or something similarly vague. Prior to COVID, if you asked an employee for, say, proof of HIV negative. And they actually gave you proof of HIV positive. Anything that happens afterwards (termination, promoting another employee, denial of PTO, etc) the employee can sue you because they believe you are discriminating on their HIV status. IANAL and don't care to research it myself but I've heard this sentiment repeated countless times in meetings with senior HR and Legal executives, so I believe it true. All said, I do work in the healthcare industry. So maybe the HIPPA laws for our patients have been applied to our employees and there is some mixup around that. Either way, after 20 years in the industry this is news to me, appreciate the discourse.
- majormajor 5y ago
  > They’re also not allowed to “punish” you for failing to provide your health records. Where are you getting this belief from? We literally have had vaccine requirements for various places for decades...

esalman 5y ago

It only applies to one's care providers. Source: I work with human subject data, have to take training each year.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Hippa applies to all and is meant to protect people from discrimination on health matters No, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is not a workplace anti-discrimination act. You are, while also probably misunderstanding the lower-level details, confusing its basic purpose and function with something else, probably the Americans with Disabilities Act.

dekhn 5y ago

you misunderstand this law. the law is confusing but the terms are well understood.