U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a bill that would remove the national patient identifier language from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HealthITSecurity reports. The proposed legislation cites concerns that the “creation of the national identifier would actually heighten — not reduce — patient privacy risks.” Initially, the Department of Health and Human Services was required to create standards for developing a national patient ID under HIPAA. A federal funding ban has been in place that prevents the creation of the ID since the bill was enacted in 1998.
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