Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA; Pub.L. 104–191, 110 Stat. 1936) was adopted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It is also known as the Kennedy–Kassebaum Act or Kassebaum–Kennedy Act after two of its leading sponsors, senators Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA).

The law has two main components, known as Title I and Title II. Title I protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose jobs. Title II requires the establishment of standards for health-care transactions and for protection of health-care information and electronic records. Although the law is designed to focus on health-care agencies, it defines protected health information (PHI) and covered entities in such a way ...