In 1999, the
BlueCross BlueShield Association engaged Nolan to conduct research on the costs
involved in, what was then, pending federal privacy legislation. Our report
concluded that while privacy concerns are real, privacy violations are rare, making privacy
legislation a "big solution for a small problem." The pending legislation would
be expensive for many health care organizations to implement.
In 2001, the Association
re-engaged Nolan to conduct a subsequent study on the HHS-issued privacy
regulations under HIPAA. Our report concluded that the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) failed to estimate several significant cost elements
completely, and underestimated the impact of many others. Nolan believes the
final privacy regulation will cost more than $42.9 billion over five years to
implement.
Our exclusive reports are available for download.
