HIPAA and Mental Health Services
How do you know your personal health information is protected? Especially regarding your mental health treatment or services? The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, was established in 1996 to protect your personal health information (PHI) from outside sources that do not have a business purpose to see it. Your primary care physician can see it, as well as your health insurance. Your spouse, child, parent or other non-medical entity cannot see your PHI without your consent. Anyone not directly related to the treatment or payment of your mental health services will need either verbal or written permission from you to access your files, whether with your doctor or your insurance company. The usual age of consent is 18 (or younger if the child has been emancipated). However, in the case of mental health, physicians and insurance companies will drop the age down to 13 or 14 (depending on your state). This means if you are a child of 14 and receive mental health services, unless you choose to tell your parents about your treatment, they are restricted by HIPAA from obtaining information from either your physician or your insurance company.
