HIPAA regulations (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 commonly mistaken for HIPPA) puts limits on pre-existing condition exclusions in group health plans and gives new enrollees credit for prior coverage. In addition to these "portability" requirements, HIPAA regulations also makes it illegal to use health status as a reason for denying coverage, guarantees group coverage for employers with 50 or fewer employees, and guarantees renew ability of group health plans. Congress recognized the need for national patient record privacy standards in 1996 when they enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The regulations included provisions designed to save money for health care businesses by encouraging electronic transactions along with enacting new safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of that information. The law gave Congress until August 21, 1999, to pass comprehensive health privacy legislation. When Congress failed to enact such legislation, the regulations required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to craft such protections by regulation. Hundreds of Tools, Sample Forms and Plain-English Analysis Complying with the complex rules of hipaa regulations is easy when you view articles, sample forms and plain-English analysis of regulations on HR.BLR.com. HR.BLR.com is the most complete source for practical human resources advice and plain-English compliance analysis available anywhere. No matter what the HR topic - from termination to HIPAA regulations - you’ll find hands-on help you can count on. The HR.BLR.com editorial staff monitors a host of private and government sources to keep you up-to-date on all the important human resource developments. The HR Library has more hipaa regulations resources like these: Model Certificate of Health Care Coverage HIPAA Sample forms