You come to work one day, and notice Susan is not there. Nobody knows what happened to her, and everyone appears oddly tight-lipped about her absence. Finally, you and your coworkers are told she has taken a leave of absence. No other details are given. Attorneys, corporate compliance officers, and human resource personnel have been properly coached as to the myriad of stringent health privacy rules in the workplace, and everyone is rightfully paranoid.
I am reminded of an eccentric law professor I had who relished saying, "No good deed goes unpunished," whenever discussing the inevitable unintended consequences of legislation or contract terms.
But after 22 years of HIPAA Privacy, I am not even sure the main impetus behind its passage was ever a good deed – at least not for those who have weaponized its use against employers.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
