‘Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson unveiled a plan Monday aimed at ensuring that disabled veterans, such as those severely injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, receive state benefits they might not know about because of a federal privacy law. VA officials will ask severely disabled war veterans whether they want to be contacted by their states’ veterans offices about state-offered benefits. If the answer is yes, the VA will share the information with a state office that will, in turn, contact the veteran. A federal medical privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, prevents the sharing of such information without a patient’s permission.’
Found here.
