From:          Glen Davis
To:            "'heb_roots_chr@geocities.com'" <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject:       RE: USA National Identity Cards

National Standard Health Care Provider Identification
Federal Register:  May 7, 1998
Proposed Rules
Page 25320 - 25357

Basically, this rule proposes a standard for a national health care
provider identifier and requirements concerning its use.  Health plans,
health care providers, and health care clearing houses would use the
identifier, among other uses, in connection with certain electronic
transactions.  It is intended to improve Medeicare and Medicaid and
other Federal health programs, to eliminate fraudulent billing by health
care providers, and facilitate the electronic transmission of health
care information.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
requires the adoption of standards for unique health identifiers for all
individuals, employers, health plans, health care providers and requires
further that the adopted standards specify for what purposes unique
health identifiers may be used.  Although this proposal would establish
a National Identification System for health care providers, it is likely
that providers will push this requirement to the next lower level, the
health care recipient (third rule of plumbing: "sewage does not flow up
hill").

Quite an interesting list of participants helped in the project to
develop the 'provider identification system.'  Among them:

Department of Defense
Department of Labor
Department of Veternas Affairs
Office of Personnel Management
Public Health Service
Drug Enforcement Administration

(There were also private sector and state agencies invited to
participate.)

Interesting statements made in this proposal:

Provisions of the HIPAA as well as any standards established under them,
supercede any State law that is contrary to them.

If a person desires to conduct a transaction (the exchange of
information between two parties to carry out financial and
administrative activities related to health care), the health plan may
not refuse or delay or adversely affect the person or the standard
transaction.

The Act's requirements are not limited to health plans; however, each
person to whom a standard or implementation specification applies is
required to comply with the standard within 24 months of its adoption.

I apologize that this doesn't tell more about the proposed rule than it
does.  I still have not completely reviewed the proposal.  These are
simply highlights I found in the first 12 pages of the preamble.

Glen

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