HIPAA Dilemmas

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In 1996, the United States legislation signed into law the Health Insurance and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This privacy law gives authorization to individuals to have power over their own health information. They choose to who or whom their health information is shared with. The dilemma is that HIPAA was not created with mental illness in mind. When someone is sick other than a mental illness you assume his or her brain is okay and capable of making an informed decision. For example, someone that has cancer and is dying can make a choice whether to share or not health information with their family. But with schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder you cannot presume that. This establishes a line where family cannot cross and is excluded