Discussion Government Regulations

2-2 Discussion: Government Regulations
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2-2 Discussion: Government Regulations
There are different regulations that are structured to protect American’s private health data. American patients have a right to privacy and they also have a right to acquire the information that is given to healthcare practitioners who will utilize it with discretion in the client’s best interest. The Privacy Act of 1974 serves to regulate data that is composed of the federal agency and its departments (Department of Justice, 2015). According to Hu, Sparenborg, and Tai (2011), the alcohol and drug abuse patient confidentiality law asserts that more privacy should be advanced in any federally acquired drug or alcohol abuse program. The identity, diagnosis as well as intervention should be viewed as private information, therefore, client impairment does not provide a leeway for sharing of confidential data. According to Kinney (2015), the conditions for coverage of specialized services by the suppliers are also part of the ACA laws that regulate providers and requires that all patient information should be stored confidentially and guarded against destruction, loss or unauthorized utilization.
Further, the Genetic information nondiscrimination act (GINA), serves to widen the guidelines in HIPAA to defend Americans against discrimination in light of their genetic information when it comes to health insurance as well as employment (Hofman & Rose, 2013). In the final regulation, health information encompasses a person’s genetic data.

Therefore, health plans together with insurers are banned from imposing a preexisting condition exemption because of genetic data. In my estimation, the government should be more involved in regulating healthcare information. Americans, particularly the patients, have a right to privacy and they ought to be assured that the information they share with their doctors remains private. The confidentiality of Alcohol and drug abuse patient records rule for instance clearly describes the situations in which a person’s health information can be utilized and disclosed, it also does not deny patient access and it defines the specific requirements of a written consent (Gold and Frierson, 2015). Without such government enforced regulations, patients may decline to offer critical information that may impact the quality as well as the outcome of healthcare services.
References
Gold, L., & Frierson, R. (2017). The American Psychiatric Association Publishing Textbook of Forensic Psychiatry, Third Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub.
Hofman, J., & Rose, A. (2013). Laws and Regulations Governing the Disclosure of Health Information (2014 update). Bok.ahima.org. Retrieved 13 March 2018, from http://bok.ahima.org/doc?oid=300245
Kinney, E. (2015). The Affordable Care Act and Medicare in comparative context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Privacy Act of 1974. (2018). Justice.gov. Retrieved 13 March 2018, from https://www.justice.gov/opcl/privacy-act-1974
Tai, B., Hu, & Sparenborg, S. (2011). Privacy protection for patients with substance use problems. Substance Abuse And Rehabilitation, 2, 227. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/sar.s27237