E.g. from 2004 (10 page .PDF) - http://www.irs.gov/p...m/cc-2004-034.pdf
This Notice discusses the effect of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Regulations, 45 C.F.R. parts 160 and 164, when the Service requests protected health information from a taxpayer or third party. Under these regulations, the Service will generally have additional burdens when requesting protected health information from a Âcovered entity or a covered entityÂs business associate. There are three exceptions that allow the Service to obtain protected health information while enforcing the Internal Revenue Code: the consent of the taxpayer, the law enforcement exception, and the administrative and judicial proceedings exception. This Notice discusses the standards for applying these exceptions.
The louder and the faster the RWNM (right wing noise machine) screams about something Obama or the federal government has done, the less likely there is something nefarious behind it.
Remember the "Death Panels"?
The civil service people who work in the federal government generally know what they're doing, believe it or not. They don't write the laws - Congress does. They just have to figure out ways to turn what Congress writes into sensible rules.
If the IRS screwed up in this search, I'm sure they'll have some explaining to do when it goes before a judge.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.