For Parents
HSA Consulting, Inc. is an insurance plan administrator that specializes in the Insurance needs of Medical and Health Science Universities and their students. We understand these students’ unique insurance needs, from needing their coverage for the first time to ensuring their coverage meets rotation site requirements. We provide 100% waiver verification and complete tracking of student insurance. We assist both the students and the college/university in ensuring that all students remain insured. Please understand that by law, we are forbidden to offer any information about students who are 18 years or older without their prior consent.
FERPA
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are “eligible students.”
What Does This Mean for Parents?
For parents to access student information, they must provide written consent allowing rights to be transferred. The reason for these protective measures is to protect students’ private information including, but not limited to, Social Security Numbers, GPA’s, Registrar records such as the number of credits earned, Grades, and Academic or Behavior Disciplinary Violations.
HSAC will not contact parents concerning student insurance waiver or enrollment. Therefore, the student must initiate the process.
HIPAA
Individual health information is private and protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Privacy Rule, a Federal law, gives you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information. The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of individuals’ protected health information, whether electronic, written, or oral. The Security Rule is a Federal law that requires security for health information in electronic form.
What Information Is Protected?
- Information your doctors, nurses, and other health care providers put in your medical record.
- Conversations your doctor has about your care or treatment with nurses and others.
- Information about you in your health insurer’s computer system.
- Billing information about you at your clinic.
- Most other health information about you is held by those who must follow these laws.
Who Must Follow These Laws?
“Covered Entities” are entities that must follow HIPAA regulations. They include:
- Health Plans, including health insurance companies, HMOs, company health plans, and certain government programs that pay for health care, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
- Most Health Care Providers—those that conduct certain business electronically, such as electronically billing health insurance—including most doctors, clinics, hospitals, psychologists, chiropractors, nursing homes, pharmacies, and dentists.
- Health Care Clearinghouses—entities that process nonstandard health information they receive from another entity into a standard (i.e., standard electronic format or data content), or vice versa. In addition, Business Associates of Covered Entities must follow parts of the HIPAA regulations.
To view the law on the Department of Health and Human Services website:
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html?src=rn