HIPAA Standard Identifiers Update

The HHS semi-annual regulatory agenda published on April 24, 2006, informs us that HHS expects to release the final HIPAA electronic claims attachment standard (proposed Sept. 23, 2005, 70 Fed. Reg. 55,989) in September 2008 (No. 1035) and that HHS has withdrawn the rulemaking for the HIPAA standard health plan identifier (No. 1051). Previous agendas indicated that a proposed rule on the standard health plan identifier would be released in November 2005 (e.g., 70 Fed. Reg. 26,865). So we are down to two standard identifiers, employer and health care provider, from the four originally anticipated (employer, provider, health plan, and patient).