It's definitely not a violation. The law only applies to individuals who have access to medical records or actual medical personnel. Heck even if Frank fell into one of those categories, what he said does not violate the statute as there was no detail, and it was public knowledge.Frank is not a provider, so the point is moot.
While there may actually be a need for HIPPA, the driving force behind it was to shield the Rich and Famous from having embarrassing information leaked to the public. If you are an everyday JOE, nobody gives a crap about what procedure you had done. Just another case where the Government built an. expensive system to protect a handful of people that cost's a whole lot of $$$$$ to implement and maintain.