The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HIPAA is a federal regulation designed to provide workers with health insurance security. HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Among other things, this regulation guarantees that workers and their dependents are able to continue group health insurance coverage in the event the primary insured loses his or her job, becomes disabled, dies, or gets divorced and that if you transfer to a new health care plan you will not have to qualify again during waiting period restrictions for pre-existing conditions which was met under the old plan.

Provisions of HIPAA apply not only to traditional employees, but also to freelance contractors and others with self employed health insurance. For more information on HIPAA, please visit the United States Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration Web site.