JabberJuls

Did you know in California that minors 12 and up can ring up a medical bill and you “The Parents” are responsible for it? Due to HIPAA privacy laws, according to Kaiser’s Lab Representative, they don’t have to let us know what lab tests are being done to our child. HIPAA doesn’t quite say that now, read here about actual parent rights.

Better yet, the Medical Provider doesn’t have to tell you if anything is wrong with your child either, if your child requests so. Whether you take your child to the doctor or not, if your child doesn’t give permission to the doctor to tell you about their health…the doctors don’t have to tell you one thing about your child’s health. Most doctors will because they’re rational about the situation, but quite a few are getting on the kick of tormenting parents and pushing the issue…just because they can.

Who put this law in place? How ridiculous is that?

Biggest question I really have is who is this privacy law really protecting?

It isn’t the minor child. A child that young isn’t fully aware of the consequences of tests, surgeries (abortion), medications, or even their own family health history to be informed enough to make a logical decision about serious health issues. So why is this law even in place? Why are minors given Parental Rights, especially when they don’t have these rights for anything else in society.

I honestly feel that this law is protecting Child Molesters and abusive people that the minor doesn’t know how to deal with so they keep things secretive and allow the abuses to be hidden and continue.

Why this infuriates me is because of what I just recently experienced with my own son’s medical care.

View some other interesting articles on Medical Billing Training and the topic of HIPAA.
My son, Luke, has been suffering with high blood pressure for quite a few months now. We saw a little bit of the power play in the doctor’s office when we took him to nephrology. Then she realized we were there to help Luke and Luke wanted our help so she gave me test results and talked to me about what she wanted to do for Luke. No problems yet.

So we go to the lab for Luke to get Lab work, check him in, and then requested a printout of what lab tests we were billed for and applying our co-pay to. The Lab representative refused to give us that information because of the minor privacy law. So my son requested the information and also gave permission for her to give it to us, but that still wasn’t good enough for the Lab representative. I was extremely frustrated how Kaiser expects us Parents to blindly pay for medical treatment of our child without some kind of proof of what is being done. The situation elevated, especially since our son wanted us to have the information too there should be no problem. Russ went to the counter and his wallet accidentally dropped on the counter as he was taking out his card. The woman hysterically jumps from the counter and calls security. How crazy is that? Come on now. He was getting his credit card out to ask for a refund of what we paid for until we can get documentation of what was been tested for.

There is something wrong with this system. How do you fight back when government officials are blindsiding the public with laws that are hindering being a parent?