That has nothing to do with HIPAA, your employer is in almost all cases not a covered entity. People frequently believe that they have a right not to have to disclose health information to their employer; this is true in certain cases but by and large is false. There are explicit provisions in HIPAA saying that requiring doctors notes is legal, for example.

Also, intelligence agency requests are exempt from HIPAA. They can ask your provider for whatever they want, and your provider can give it to them with no penalty.

The few I asked seemed to feel they were _required_ to provide information if simply asked without a court order backing up the request. And they made it seem like I was the crazy one for asking that they agree to only provide my data if legally compelled. I ended up doing direct billing out of principle.

Good info! Thank you for clearing that up for me.