Legal Question in Health Care Law in California

I am living with my boyfriend. The other day, he invited me to his desk to show his cancer test result on Kaiser’s website. His account was already logged in, and on the main page, I saw several links to different test results and one of them was his hemoglobin A1C result. I asked about it, he said we could discuss it later. I saw the cancer test result he wanted to share with me, but out of curiosity, I also clicked on the link to the hemoglobin A1C result. He got really mad and said that I committed a crime involving a HIPAA violation. I saw just one additional piece of his health info, but he claims that I did so without his permission. Therefore, he could call the police so I would be arrested and put in jail. He can also call my employer so they would fire me. He said he could also contact the Homeland Security so I could be deported. If his statements are true, what are my options?


Asked on 8/06/23, 10:53 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

His statements are all untrue. HIPPA only applies to medical service providers and their employees as to medical information they obtain and maintain. If you were a Kaiser employee and had access to medical records and used it to access his records, that would be a serious HIPPA violation, but the only repercussions would be a fine and you'd probably be fired.

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Answered on 8/06/23, 12:47 pm


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