The Trump administration wants to require health insurance companies to hand over the sensitive, detailed and identifiable medical records of millions of federal employees and retirees, as well as their families. According to a report by KFF Health News, the move is raising immediate concerns from legal and health policy experts.
As KFF notes, the unprecedented proposal was quietly revealed in a short notice from the Office of Personnel Management in December. OPM said it is seeking “service utilization and cost data,” which will 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 filled by employees and their diagnoses, as well as other sensitive health information, including provider information, doctors’ notes, treatments and trip summaries. According to KFF, the collection will affect more than 8 million Americans and collect data from 65 insurance companies.
Experts who spoke to KFF said OPM’s brief for collecting the data – which will be monthly – is vague and broad. The agency said it is essential to monitor benefit programs and “ensure that they provide competitive, quality, and affordable plans.” It also claimed 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).
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