Abstract
This article addresses the privacy of medical and health data in the US. It analyzes the scope and requirements of federal and state laws in the US, and it discusses the weaknesses in the US protection of medical privacy. Then, this article explains how the weak US system of privacy protection was unable to handle many important privacy issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the article concludes with some recommendations for action.
Highlights
For many years, state governments in the United States (US) have regulated the privacy of health data
To promote the goal of privacy, laws of state governments prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of private medical information
Congress has the power to determine the relationship between the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule and state medical privacy laws
Summary
State governments in the US have regulated the privacy of health data. To promote the goal of privacy, laws of state governments prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of private medical information. Other state laws promote the goal of disclosure to protect public health, by requiring doctors to notify public health authorities about communicable diseases, even if the patient does not consent to that disclosure [4, p. In 1996, the federal government started to take a more active role in medical privacy, when Congress enacted a federal statute called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) [7]. That federal statute required the Executive branch of government, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to adopt a rule on the privacy of health data. Business associates are outside contractors of a covered entity, such as outside lawyers or accountants for a hospital, who could have access to private medical information in the course of their work for the hospital
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