HIPAA meets celebrity.

When Congress created the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) in 1996, the intention was to create, for the first time, a comprehensive, uniform, patient protection process. The legislation was given teeth – up to $100 for each violation (which can total hundreds of violations for one investigation), and up to $25,000 per person in a calendar year. Many feared the HIPAA would lead to relentless Office of Civil Rights investigations, billions of dollars in enforcement costs, and impossible standards for the health care industry to live up to. Reality has been much different, as HIPAA has subtly entered the consciousness of the American health system, it has passed mostly unnoticed into the lives of the Average John or Jane.