What was the small-plan exemption to the HIPAA portability rules before health reform?
A514. Originally, the HIPAA portability rules did not apply to plans that had “less than 2 participants who are current employees.” That exemption was repeated in 3 different places in the law: in the Internal Revenue Code, and ERISA (which generally regulate group health plans), as well as in the Public Health Service Act (which generally regulates individual insurance). This small-plan exemption had been widely interpreted to apply to retiree-only plans as well.
Related Questions
- Do school health programs that must comply with the Transaction Rule also have to comply with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules?
- Do the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) special enrollment rules apply to this situation?
- What changes did health reform make to the small-plan exemption to the HIPAA portability rules?
