Protections under HIPAA and Virginia Law
Even before the Virginia General Assembly passed laws implementing the requirements of HIPAA, the laws of the state already met or exceeded these new federal standards prior to the implementation of HIPAA.
HIPAA and the laws in Virginia ensure these following benefits for its citizens:
1. If you are starting a new job, you may get health coverage for yourself and for those dependent on you.
2. It helps you in minimizing the chances of losing existing healthcare coverage.
3. Ensures continuous health coverage for you and your dependents even when your switch jobs.
4. It also assists one in buying health insurance coverage if you lose coverage under an employer’s group health plan and have no other health coverage available.
5. It also limits the use of pre-existing condition exclusions.
6. It also protects you against any sort of discrimination by group health plans based on your past or present health conditions, so that they cannot deny you coverage or
charging you more for coverage.
7. It helps and provides guarantee to certain small employers, and certain individuals the right to purchase health insurance if they lose job-related coverage.
8. In most cases, these laws also guarantee that employers or individuals who purchase health insurance can renew coverage regardless of any health conditions of individuals covered by the insurance.
These laws are pretty complex and vary considerably according to situations. If you need to know what your rights are under your situation, you can always call the Bureau of Insurance to discuss the protections available to you under HIPAA and Virginia law.
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