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Tine Coronavirus thread

2,475,716 Views | 20959 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by Ciboag96
TexAg91
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Low positivity is thanks to Sly and Dora pushing for all the free testing of everyone. You won't hear them talking positivity for a while.
LostInLA07
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XpressAg09 said:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I give you Single Digit Positivity.



Yeah but cumulative cases are still going up!
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TXTransplant
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BMX Bandit said:

TXTransplant said:

This has been a concern of mine for the past few months. Seems like HIPAA has been thrown out the window with this.
What part of HIPAA do you think says your employer can't take a covid test to return to work?


It's not just requiring a test. My employer expects me to self report to my supervisor and HR if I have symptoms, or even if I choose to get a test but have no symptoms.

If they think you might have contracted it at work, then they will do an investigation.

I realize this is for contact tracing, but it's not private. People you work with know who has symptoms, who has been tested, and who tested positive.

I can't think of any other situation where coworkers know anything about your specific medical status or diagnosis (unless you choose to tell them).

You don't tell your supervisor/HR when you test positive for the flu. Or if you get tested for hepatitis. If you feel sick, you just take sick days.

Again, I understand those diseases are not as contagious, but I do feel like we have crossed a line.
BMX Bandit
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The point is that the HIPAA has nothing to do with it. Nothing in HIPAA says your employer can't do those things.
TXTransplant
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BMX Bandit said:

The point is that the HIPAA has nothing to do with it. Nothing in HIPAA says your employer can't do those things.


It certainly could lead to violations.

The whole point of medical privacy is to prevent an employer from intentionally or unintentionally disclosing personally identifiable medical information to others.

When people you work with know details about your medical status, it becomes much easier for that information to be shared with others. Particularly if they are doing contact tracing.

As a general rule, my preference would be to keep as much of my medical information to myself in an attempt to prevent that from happening. In the case of this virus, it's much more difficult to do that.
BMX Bandit
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Quote:

It certainly could lead to violations.

The whole point of medical privacy is to prevent an employer from intentionally or unintentionally disclosing personally identifiable medical information to others.
No, its not. The point is to prevent health care providers, health plans, etc. from disclosing medical information. If your employer tells everyone in the world you have COVID, that doesn't violate HIPAA (unless you work for a health care provider and they also provide your health care).

TXTransplant
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BMX Bandit said:

Quote:

It certainly could lead to violations.

The whole point of medical privacy is to prevent an employer from intentionally or unintentionally disclosing personally identifiable medical information to others.
No, its not. The point is to prevent health care providers, health plans, etc. from disclosing medical information. If your employer tells everyone in the world you have COVID, that doesn't violate HIPAA (unless you work for a health care provider and they also provide your health care).




It was my understanding that it applies to companies that are self-insured and/or exchange information with the company they hire to provide medical insurance.

If that's incorrect, so be it. But we take compliance training every year that has questions directly related to this - and that training states that discussing someone's health/medical situation with other employees is in violation of the law.

The example usually given is a supervisor tells others that employee X is out of the office because they are having some sort of specific medical treatment.
BMX Bandit
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If you are self-insured, then it may also apply to that company as well. But in that case, it still woudn't prevent them requiring a test to return to work.

But generally, HIPAA does not apply to employers. That does not means it legal to divulge private information about employees. That can get the employer sued. (and HIPAA doesn't create any cause of action, so you can't sue someone for HIPAA violations. The government fines you).
TXTransplant
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BMX Bandit said:

If you are self-insured, then it may also apply to that company as well.

But generally, HIPAA does not apply to employers. That does not means it legal to divulge private information about employees. That can get the employer sued. (and HIPAA doesn't create any cause of action, so you can't sue someone for HIPAA violations. The government fines you).


Yes, I know you can't sue your employer for a HIPAA violation.

And I know ADA also covers some aspects of medical privacy, so there is overlap, too.

I probably used the term "HIPAA" a little too broadly, but it's (for better or worse) sort of become the general phrase for protecting medical privacy.

I just did a google search, and here is what I found about HIPAA and self-insured employers...

Quote:

Employers with a Self-Insured Health Plan

Notwithstanding the discussion above regarding employers, a self-insured employee health plan maintained by an employer is a Covered Entity under HIPAA (i.e. the plan itself, not the employer, although we acknowledge this distinction is difficult to make for most employers). As a result:

If the employer obtained the information through its status as a plan (i.e., as the payer for the employee's health care services), then such information is PHI and subject to HIPAA (see first bullet above for Covered Entities).

If the employer receives the information in the ordinary course (e.g. voluntary disclosure by the affected employee), then the second bullet above regarding employer permitted disclosures is applicable.


I didn't copy and paste the whole thing, but basically, if the employee "voluntarily discloses" the information, that's different from if the employer gets the information through the health insurance plan administrator.

However, I think it's a stretch to say that anyone "voluntarily" discloses health information to their employer. More likely, they are doing it because it's required, which if you ask me, is a slippery slope.

The other complicating factor about all this is, due to CDC guidelines, it's almost impossible to protect anyone's medical
privacy.

If Suzy Q two cubicals over is all of a sudden "working from home" for the next two weeks, everyone is pretty much going to know why. That's not the employer's fault - just a byproduct of this crazy situation.
XpressAg09
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LostInLA07 said:


Yeah but cumulative cases are still going up!
Boy howdy, have I got news for you.
HtownAg92
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You guy's are forgetting about the OSHA General Duty Clause - that requires employers to maintain a safe workplace. That grants employers the authority/ right to require you to report positive test or possible exposure. This unprecedented situation has also relaxed ADA medical inquiry prohibitions. Employers are supposed to take steps to limit disclosure - such as not naming who is exposed to co-workers - but the disclosure is often inevitable when someone suddenly is absent from work and everyone knows it. I would not bank on gaining any traction with complaints about employers stepping on rights during this thing. The DOL has given employers a lot of flexibility to deal with this and minimize spread, and to keep employers working.
TXTransplant
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HtownAg92 said:

You guy's are forgetting about the OSHA General Duty Clause - that requires employers to maintain a safe workplace. That grants employers the authority/ right to require you to report positive test or possible exposure. This unprecedented situation has also relaxed ADA medical inquiry prohibitions. Employers are supposed to take steps to limit disclosure - such as not naming who is exposed to co-workers - but the disclosure is often inevitable when someone suddenly is absent from work and everyone knows it. I would not bank on gaining any traction with complaints about employers stepping on rights during this thing. The DOL has given employers a lot of flexibility to deal with this and minimize spread, and to keep employers working.


I haven't forgotten about it. It's exactly why I mentioned the investigation to determine if a person contracts it at work. It's to determine if there is an OSHA recordable or not.

I agree with everything you said and complaints would definitely fall on deaf ears (I'm not even advocating for complaining).

I just think this has opened a Pandora's Box of what we could be expected to disclose to our employers re medical conditions, tests, and treatments in the future. And I'm not sure I like it.

Of course, I'm under no illusion that I had medical privacy before this. My company is self-insured, and we have to file documentation with a third party company to get "approval" to come back to work when claim 3 or more days of sick leave.

It's just different when I have to call my supervisor and/or HR myself and tell them my specific medical status.

LondonAg89
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TXTransplant said:

BMX Bandit said:

TXTransplant said:

This has been a concern of mine for the past few months. Seems like HIPAA has been thrown out the window with this.
What part of HIPAA do you think says your employer can't take a covid test to return to work?


It's not just requiring a test. My employer expects me to self report to my supervisor and HR if I have symptoms, or even if I choose to get a test but have no symptoms.

If they think you might have contracted it at work, then they will do an investigation.

I realize this is for contact tracing, but it's not private. People you work with know who has symptoms, who has been tested, and who tested positive.

I can't think of any other situation where coworkers know anything about your specific medical status or diagnosis (unless you choose to tell them).

You don't tell your supervisor/HR when you test positive for the flu. Or if you get tested for hepatitis. If you feel sick, you just take sick days.

Again, I understand those diseases are not as contagious, but I do feel like we have crossed a line.


Hipaa does not apply to an employer setting. Only to a health care provider (I'm a Hipaa lawyer)
LondonAg89
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BMX Bandit said:

If you are self-insured, then it may also apply to that company as well. But in that case, it still woudn't prevent them requiring a test to return to work.

But generally, HIPAA does not apply to employers. That does not means it legal to divulge private information about employees. That can get the employer sued. (and HIPAA doesn't create any cause of action, so you can't sue someone for HIPAA violations. The government fines you).


It only applies if it's found out through the self insured health plan. Which most employers are finding out in other ways and it's completely legal
LondonAg89
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aTm2004
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KHOU is doing a story on Cy-Fair going back tomorrow and has 3 teachers who are scared. All are friggin land manatees and one is a MS theatre teacher.
jetch17
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aTm2004 said:

KHOU is doing a story on Cy-Fair going back tomorrow and has 3 teachers who are scared. All are friggin land manatees and one is a MS theatre teacher.


Just watched that
tylercsbn9
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aTm2004 said:

KHOU is doing a story on Cy-Fair going back tomorrow and has 3 teachers who are scared. All are friggin land manatees and one is a MS theatre teacher.


Like 95% of my wife's school is Cy fair is excited to be back. Honestly they're going to have problems finding people to teach the online kids because it's basically 50/50 from the parents choices. I'm sure they won't interview any of them though
TarponChaser
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aTm2004 said:

KHOU is doing a story on Cy-Fair going back tomorrow and has 3 teachers who are scared. All are friggin land manatees and one is a MS theatre teacher.

Come now sir, you're insulting land manatees. These teachers who don't want to work but still get paid are legit land whales: https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/cy-fair-isd-teachers-to-protest-reopening-plan/285-97161890-b087-412e-8e68-29f075589e7c
tamuags08
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https://babylonbee.com/news/public-school-teachers-adamantly-insist-their-jobs-are-non-essential
Betoisafurry
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Go find a new job then fatty
Agz_2003
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TXTransplant
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LondonAg89 said:

BMX Bandit said:

If you are self-insured, then it may also apply to that company as well. But in that case, it still woudn't prevent them requiring a test to return to work.

But generally, HIPAA does not apply to employers. That does not means it legal to divulge private information about employees. That can get the employer sued. (and HIPAA doesn't create any cause of action, so you can't sue someone for HIPAA violations. The government fines you).


It only applies if it's found out through the self insured health plan. Which most employers are finding out in other ways and it's completely legal


Just checked and my company actually has a HIPAA privacy compliance program. The way the policy is written, it sounds like they are required by law to have it.

From what you're saying, though, it sounds like this is voluntary on the company's part, which means they can change the standards any time they want.

And as we both noted, if the company requires the employee to disclose certain health information, that doesn't fall under HIPAA at all.
aTm2004
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Touche!
Bondag
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If they cared about their health they would lose 50-100 pounds Covid or not.
aTm2004
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Didn't you hear? One is larger than normal because she's 6 months pregnant. I'm sure that extra 200 lbs will come right off after birth.
wichoAggie06
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Looking at what these teachers were saying to the news I am now more scared to send my kid to school but not because of Covid-19, but because of these type of teachers!!!
htxag09
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I'm scared after seeing some of the memes these teachers post on Facebook thinking they're valid analogies. I'm in aw of some of the people that are teaching children.
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XpressAg09
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Lucky #7
wessimo
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Was Trump right?!?

htxag09
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Haha, no kids....yet, one on the way. My comment was mostly tongue in cheek in reply to the one above mine.

But I still stand by my point. Dumbasses making comparisons like this one and sharing them thinking they are valid are the ones winning this argument and who the media is rallying behind.

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