What are the two main goals of HIPAA?

The selected answer accurately identifies the two primary objectives of HIPAA, which are to improve the portability of health insurance and to protect patient privacy.

Improving portability means that individuals can maintain their health insurance coverage when they change jobs or experience other life events. This is crucial because it ensures continuity of care and access to necessary health services without undue barriers created by insurance changes.

Protecting patient privacy is also a fundamental goal of HIPAA. The regulation sets standards for the safeguarding of personal health information (PHI), ensuring that patients’ sensitive information is handled with confidentiality and that their rights are respected. This not only builds trust between patients and healthcare providers but also empowers patients by granting them rights over their health information, including the ability to access and control the dissemination of their data.

Together, these goals create a framework that supports both the access to healthcare and the security of personal health information, which are essential components of a functional healthcare system.