The Trump administration is seeking to compel health insurers to hand over vast amounts of sensitive, detailed, and identifiable medical records for millions of federal employees, retirees, and their families. The plan is prompting immediate concern from legal and health policy experts, according to a report by KFF Health News.
KFF notes the unprecedented proposal was quietly disclosed in a short notice from the Office of Personnel Management in December. OPM said it seeks “service use and cost data,” to be drawn from medical records such as “medical claims, pharmacy claims, encounter data, and provider data.”
That collection could give the federal government access to prescriptions employees have filled and their diagnoses, plus provider details, doctors’ notes, treatments, and visit summaries, among other sensitive health information. More than 8 million Americans would be affected, with data sourced from 65 insurance companies, KFF reports.
Experts quoted by KFF said OPM’s brief rationale for compiling the data—which would be collected monthly—is broad and vague. The agency says the information is necessary to oversee benefits programs and “ensure they provide competitive, quality, and affordable plans,” and asserts that as an oversight body it is authorized under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to collect such protected health information.
