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Senate Committee Hears Testimony on HIPAA
Washington, DC, September 23, 2003 – The Senate Special Committee
on Aging held a hearing today on HIPAA, its implementation and enforcement.
Committee Chairman Larry Craig (R-ID) said, "I called today’s
hearing to get some clear answers from federal officials about how
they planned to avoid what many have feared could be a financial
‘train wreck’ of stopped payments, denied medical care,
or even a widespread reversion from electronic claims back to time-consuming
paper claims. I commend the Bush administration for announcing this
critically needed step today. With just over three weeks left before
the deadline, it comes not a moment too soon. Of course, this is
no silver bullet. The unresolved issues are still many.”
According to Cathy Treadway, a medical practice administrator from
Boise, the decision to ease full implementation of the new regulations
comes just in time. “According to an informal survey that
I conducted throughout Idaho, a vast majority of practices do not
feel that they will be ready to submit HIPAA compliant claims by
October 16,” Treadway said in her prepared testimony.
Craig’s hearing also examined the HIPAA privacy rule which
went into effect in April. “Few can argue with the underlying
intent of these regulations – namely the protection of medical
privacy,” Craig said. “However, as is often the case
with federal rule making, a kernel of congressional intent has grown
into a towering tree of regulatory complexity. The privacy provisions
in the original law, for example, numbered just 337 words –
while the final federal regulation now runs upwards of 101,000 words
– over 500 pages long."
“We would be remiss if we failed to ask, ‘Are the benefits
from these new regulations worth the heavy bite they are taking
out of our country’s already squeezed health care budgets?’”
The hearing, entitled, "HIPAA Medical Privacy and Transaction
Rules: Overkill or Overdue?" included Health Privacy Project
Director Janlori Goldman, whose testimony covered myths and facts
about the privacy rule, and addressed the cost of implementing the
privacy rule. Other witnesses included HHS Office of Civil Rights
Director Rick Campanelli, and representatives from the American
Hospital Association and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
An extensive question and answer session occurred between Sen.
Craig and federal officials concerning HHS’ announcement and
other aspects of the HIPAA rules.
Read
Senator Craig's opening statement (PDF).
Read the testimony of:
- Richard
Campanelli, OCR Director
(PDF)
- Jared
Adair, Director, CMS Office of HIPAA Standards
(PDF)
- Janlori
Goldman, Director, Health Privacy Project (PDF)
- Cathy
Treadway, Administrator, The Woman's Clinic, Boise, Idaho
(PDF)
- Mary
R. Grealy, President, Healthcare Leadership Council (PDF)
- Allisa
Fox, Executive Director of Policy, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association,
Washington, DC (PDF)
The American Medical Assocation distributed the following statement
at the hearing, before Medicare's announcement that it will accept
HIPAA non-compliant electronic transactions after the Oct. 16 compliance
deadline:
In order to mitigate widespread confusion and disruption in medical
claims processing, the AMA today outlined a 3-step plan for a
smooth transition to the new HIPAA Transaction and Code Set Standard,
in conjunction with a Senate Aging Committee hearing on the subject.
The deadline for the new transaction standards is October 16,
2003 -- less than one month from now. First, it is vital that
physicians finalize plans to become HIPAA compliant as quickly
as possible. Surveys by both AMA and CMS show that physicians,
like many others in the health-care industry, have made progress,
but are not completely ready for the new standards.
Second, the AMA urges CMS to implement its contingency plan in
order to ensure a smooth transition to the new transaction standards.
If implemented, the contingency plan would allow the Medicare
fee-for-service program to continue to accept “legacy”
claims (electronic claims that are not HIPAA compliant) after
October 16. The AMA applauds CMS for developing a contingency
plan to help insure a smooth transition.
Third, the AMA urges private sector payors to follow the lead
of CMS and develop a contingency plan that allows legacy claims
while the medical community transitions into full compliance.
A coalition letter sent to payors on September 12, signed by AMA
and more than 50 members of the medical community, urged payors
to develop a contingency plan to share with the medical community
as soon as possible.
The AMA will continue its work with CMS and private payors up
to and beyond the deadline to ensure that claims are processed
promptly and the transition to standardized electronic claims
processing functions smoothly. It is important for physicians
to note that without assurances from CMS and private payors that
a contingency plan will be in place – and regardless of
their decisions – physician efforts to meet the October
16 deadline should continue.
The only way the medical community can avoid disruption in medical
claims processing is if stakeholders -- physicians, government
and private payors – each do their part toward the common
goal of a smooth transition to the new transaction standards.
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