The Trump administration wants to require health insurance companies to hand over large amounts of sensitive, detailed and identifiable medical records of millions of federal workers and retirees, along with their families. The move is raising immediate concern among legal and health policy experts. according to a report by KFF Health News.
The unprecedented proposal was quietly revealed in a brief notice from the Office of Personnel Management in December, KFF notes. OPM said it is seeking “service usage and cost data,” which would be collected from medical records such as “medical claims, pharmacy claims, encounter data, and provider data.”
That list could give the federal government access to prescriptions employees have filled and their diagnoses, as well as provider information, doctor notes, treatment and visit summaries, among other sensitive health information. The collection would affect more than 8 million Americans and collect data from 65 insurance companies, according to KFF.
Experts who spoke to KFF said OPM’s brief explanation of the data collection, which would occur monthly, is vague and broad. The agency said there is a need to monitor benefit programs and “ensure they provide competitive, quality and affordable plans.” It also stated that, as an oversight agency, it is authorized to collect such protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
