Penalty for breaking HIPAA law
Quick View. Sept. 20, 2004.
| Criminal penalties for breaking the privacy law: |
| $50,000 |
penalty, imprisonment of not more than 1 year or both, for wrongful disclosure. |
| $100,000 |
penalty, imprisonment of not more than 5 years or both, for an offense under false pretense. |
| $250,000 |
penalty, imprisonment of not more than 10 years or both, for selling or intent to sell individually identifiable health information. |
Willful and deliberate violations of the federal medical records privacy rule carry stiff criminal penalties.
Last month's conviction of Richard W. Gibson of SeaTac, Wash. -- the first in the country involving a breach of the privacy portion of the HIPAA act -- is a reminder of that fact. The regulation, part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, went into effect in April of last year. Gibson admitted that, while he worked at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, he used a patient's personal information to get four credit cards on which he charged more than $9,000.
Source: URAC
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Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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