FEDERAL STATUTES:

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"):

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights -- HIPPA
  
• HIPPA.ORG
• HHS Administrative Simplification HIPAA Web site
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - HIPAA website
• The Law. Title II, Subtitle F of HIPAA
• HIPAA-REGS LIST-SERV
• Health & Human Services HIPAA FAQ
• National Commission on Vital & Health Statistics
• Consolidated HIPAA regulations published in the CFR
• "HIPAA in a "Nutshell" - Guidelines for EMR and Paper Medical Records Compliance", by Michael Milne
• Pennsylvania Department of Health on "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act".
• Wikipedia article on & resources about "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act".

• Older Americans Act, Title 42 U.S.Code, Chapter 35, Sections 3001 -3058ee:

• Older Americans Act, Title I, Section 102.
  
• Older Americans Act, Title III, Section 307.
• Older Americans Act, Title VII, Section 721.

• Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 -- Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-508:

  • See:SUBCHAPTER XVIII — HEALTH INSURANCE FOR AGED AND DISABLED, and specifically 42 USC §1395 (f).
    
    • Synopsis: Briefing by the American Cancer Society (Rev: 03/30/2005): "The 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) encourages all people to make choices and decisions now about the types and extent of medical care they want to accept or refuse should they become unable to make those decisions due to illness. The PSDA requires all health care agencies to recognize the living will and durable power of attorney for health care. The Act applies to hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health agencies that receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Under the PSDA, health care agencies must ask you whether you have an advance directive. They must provide you with educational materials about your rights under state law."
    • Explanation: What is the Patient Self-Determination Act?, posted by the American Bar Association.
    • Commentary: "Requirements of the Patient Self-Determination Act" , by Lawrence P. Ulrich, Ph.D., from The Patient Self-Determination Act: Meeting the Challenges in Patient Care (1998).