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Friday, Aug. 20, 2021

Does HIPAA protect people from having to reveal their COVID vaccination status?

Christiana Dillard, Lead Stories
no

There's a lot of confusion over your right to medical privacy: Many people believe — and have been asserting on social media — that no one can ask them whether they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

That's not true. HIPAA (not HIPPA; it is an acronym for a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) does not protect you from being asked your vaccination status. "Covered entities," such as health care organizations, must protect your medical records.

HIPAA does not apply to businesses, organizations or employers.

Here's what HIPAA does let you do: see or receive a copy of your medical record, check your medical record for accuracy, ask to change or add information to your file and find out who has seen your medical information.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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