What Is Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act? 
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 -LRB- commonly known as HIPAA -RRB- protects patients medical information in that your personal information can not be shared with another party without your authorization . The other aspect of HIPAA that most people are familiar with is COBRA . COBRA allows you to continue employer coverage for a while after your employment has terminated . Under the affordable care act , coming off of group coverage does grant you a special enrollment period as it 's a qualifying event so you would want to compare options between COBRA and plans available on the individual market - an experienced health insurance broker can help you with this . I hope the information is helpful - please feel free to contact me for help and if you have any other questions . Thanks very much . 