2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 22 — Insurance
RS 22:42.1 — Confidentiality of health information; exceptions

§42.1. Confidentiality of health information; exceptions

A.(1) All protected health information in the custody of the Department of Insurance shall be confidential and privileged, shall not be subject to disclosure under Title 44 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, and shall not be subject to subpoena. Confidentiality and privilege shall be strictly maintained by the commissioner of insurance and all employees of the department, except as provided in Subsection B of this Section, and the protected health information shall be used exclusively for the purpose of discharging the duties and responsibilities of the department under this Title.

(2) "Protected health information" as used in this Section means either of the following:

(a) Any health or medical information, documents, or records designated as confidential by state or federal law.

(b) Any information, whether oral, written, electronic, visual, or in any other form, including demographic information collected from an individual, that is in the department's possession which does both of the following:

(i) Relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, the provision of health care to an individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual.

(ii) Reveals the identity of the individual whose health care is the subject of the information, or there is a reasonable basis to believe the information could be utilized, either alone or with other information that is or should reasonably be known to be available to predictable recipients of the information to reveal the identity of that individual.

B.(1) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the communication of facts or documents that are part of an individual's protected health information to the individual or his representative. When authorized in writing by the individual, such facts and documents may also be released to the party designated in the written authorization.

(2) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the communication of facts, documents, or other information that is part of an individual's protected health information if requested by: a federal or state prosecuting attorney; the office of the state police, public safety services, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, in the conduct of an insurance fraud investigation, office of the state inspector general; the legislative auditor; or the attorney general of this state. The department shall also share information with any state or federal agency for the purpose of investigating or determining tax fraud or the offset of any governmental benefit or with any other government entity authorized by law to conduct any audit, investigation, or similar activity in connection with the administration of any state or federally funded program.

(3) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the communication of facts, documents, or other information which are part of an individual's protected health information pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction issued after a contradictory hearing based upon a finding that the records should be released in the interest of justice.

(4) Nothing in this Section shall prevent the use of protected health information for the compilation of statistical data in which the identity of the individual is not disclosed.

Acts 2009, No. 367, §1, eff. July 6, 2009.