This is the Act implemented in 1996 and effective April 14, 2004, for plans such as the JFT Health and Welfare Fund to process your protected health information.

The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) established, for the first time, a set of national standards for the protection of certain health information.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals' privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.

Within HHS, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Privacy Rule with respect to voluntary compliance activities and civil money penalties.

A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well being. The Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. Given that the healthcare marketplace is diverse, the Rule is designed to be flexible and comprehensive to cover the variety of uses and disclosures that need to be addressed.

You, and only you, can discuss your benefits with a representative of the Fund staff. However, if you would like your JFT representative, spouse, family member, or friend to discuss any benefits with the Fund office, you must have a HIPAA Authorization Form on file. Furthermore, on the form you can limit the authorization in various ways and you can revoke the authorization at any time.