What is this reversal of Roe going to do HIPAA regulations?

But then there was that one case from a month back -self induced abortion.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/woman-faces-texas-murder-charge-induced-abortion-83982115

... if they win or not.

as well as providers.

Case was dropped in three days.

DA said, "I can't charge her. It's against the law to charge her"

As to why she was charged remains a mystery.

As the old saying goes, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." But in this instance, the message went out to women in Texas in no uncertain terms. If you seek health care, you could land you in the slammer for a weekend. So you'd best think twice before running off to the doctor or the clinic if you're at all concerned about the possibility of pregnancy.

Much less for an actual abortion.

Notwithstanding what some may be saying.

HIPAA is based on Congress's power under the Commerce Clause.

When they are not legally trained professionals, which very few people are...
The net effect broadly will be to chronically psychologically stress women.

However, they can (and must) divulge any knowledge of impending crimes.

Once the states criminalize abortion, doctors and nurses (and potentially therapists and psychologists) will be REQUIRED to report any one contemplating or planning an abortion.

The right to privacy is gone.

Let's say a young girl gets pregnant in Theocratistan, Merica... and her mother buys her a plane ticket to California to "visit her aunt" for a month. If Theocratistan police get a ping from the girls cell phone ( not protected data ) when she visits the clinic in California... her and her mother and other family members can all be charged with various crimes ( RICO comes to mind ).

Think it can't happen... think again.

to criminalize abortion. My Governor has come out and told us he has our back and anybody regardless of what state they live in can come here for a safe abortion

and the state that you are in refuses to extradite the "law breaker".

Trust me, they will criminalize the crossing of state lines to obtain an abortion (and include anyone that helps the person seeking the abortion).

… bounty hunter laws.

My doc prescribes tyl#3 for chronic pain. When the crackdown happened, he told me he was gonna watch everyone's prescriptions because the feds were watching. (The feds already track controlled substances and now they were increasing surveillance) Doctor said prescriptions that were refilled too soon or too far apart were both suspect. (Too far apart could imply hoarding) Doc said, if there appeared to be Rx abuse, the feds could yank his DEA license. Doc said if a patient showed suspicious refilling pattern, he would no longer prescribe to that patient because he did not want to get in trouble.

The government does not have access to the patients' names. It only has access to provider data. Hospitals keep records. Think of Covid. Cases were reported daily to health departments. Names were not released, just the number of cases. The number of patients in ICU, the number of patients on ventilators. This was on our local news every night. The mayor gave a press conference every day at 6:14 pm. (14 was the number because it was before the commercial break)

Doctors will not perform abortions because they will lose their license. I'm pretty sure that standard practice requires some pathlab of placental/fetal/embryonic tissue. It is for this reason, they are no longer performing abortions in Texas. Women will not be charged with any crime, only providers.

So, in the same manner that the feds track controlled substances, abortions can be tracked. In the same manner that Covid data is released abortions can be tracked. The provider gets in trouble, not the woman.

Lookie this! It's chlamydia by census track!

agencies suspected an “illegal” procedure, a subpoena pretty much supersedes HIPAA unless one has a good attorney delaying action.

Hopefully, it won’t come to that. But who knows.

... individuals opening up the places they work for to litigation.

"I suspect cause I feel ... " SHOULD NOT be enough evidence for a subpoena IINM

HIPAA would not offer protection, like the old days of reporting syphillis or something.

Otherwise, I think it would be a violation of HIPAA to report it to authorities unless they subpoened the info. Maybe a nosy neighbor reported the woman.

But you are correct, no one would know in most cases and I really doubt many law enforcement agencies are going to track down women and drag them to court.

Of course, I can no longer say that with certainty. Surely, juries in most juristictions would have one or two jury nullifiers for abortion charges.

I worked in the legal department (as a secretary) at a large medical center. We could release medical information in response to a subpoena. If one of these awful states' laws result in a subpoena, the information will be released legally. No change to HIPAA. A mere inquiry won't be valid reason to give the information out. Mental health information requires a patient authorization or a court order.

However, a law just passed in CT will deny another state from receiving medical information regarding reproductive health information. (My sister consulted on the writing of the law. Yay, sister!) I don't know if that will be challenged in federal court.

My understanding is that it means a doctor can't release your medical information without your consent.

Yet when I call various healthcare offices to ask about their vaccination status--dentists, optometrists, and the like--they say they have no idea about their staff; they can't ask because of HIPAA.

Sounds like BS to me, but who's telling them to use this answer? (And how do I find a vaccinated office other than by calling every practitioner on my insurance list?)

HIPAA forbids release of medical information by anyone associated with a medical facility (doctor, nurse, techs, receptionists, etc. about a PATIENT. (Although that case in Texas where the woman was originally charged with self inducing an abortion was reported by the hospital.)

It does not preclude medical facilites from releasing any information of the staff vaccination status or their safety precautions regarding masks, etc. You can assume they either do not ask their staff or the staff doesn't want to admit they are not compliant.

When they just keep repeating the crap, I feel like I've fallen down a rabbit hole or have gone through the looking glass, hard to say which.

We got told at work (healthcare facility where they understand HIPAA about as well as your average pizza delivery guy) that we can't ask our fellow workers if they were vaccinated due to HIPAA. Completely untrue.

Enough, it becomes true. (not)

Abortion Reporting
https://www.eff.org/issues/abortion-reporting#:~:text=An%20abortion%20facility%20may%20or,transmits%20any%20health%20information%20electronically.

All but four states have abortion reporting requirements


Example of abortion reporting form. Includes everything but the name. It includes a chart number.


At the time of the EFF article, only California had privacy guarantees.
I believe a few more states added them in 2022.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/06/data-company-headache-user-nightmare-abortion-roe

While HIPAA restricts how providers share medical information, it doesn't prevent them from sharing it with law enforcement. "I don’t think people can rely on HIPAA as being a defense in these cases if there were a criminal prosecution," Granick said.

here because no names are attached.

If it's illegal, a provider will not perform the procedure

Having a chart number is almost like having a name....