HIPAA primarily protects what?

• A. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: Federal law that requires protection of patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge.
• B. Public health surveillance.
• C. Insurance payment processing only.
• D. Non-medical personal data.

Answer: (A)

HIPAA focuses on protecting patient health information and controlling how that information is shared. It establishes privacy and security rules that limit who can access PHI and under what circumstances, requiring patient consent or explicit authorization for many disclosures. Public health surveillance may involve data sharing under certain provisions, but that isn’t the primary purpose of HIPAA. Similarly, while HIPAA governs how information is handled in insurance payment processing, protecting health information itself is the overarching goal. Non-medical personal data isn’t the focus of HIPAA, which specifically targets health information.