Texas residents-employers access to personal medical info

Yes, here's what the legislature and the governor signed off on...already effective (don't you just love politicians!)
Info on each employee (including their covered family members) whose medical bills the previous year exceed $15,000 OR
each one that has been precertified for hospital stays of 5 or more days:
1) All diagnoses
2) All dates of service
3) All amounts paid
4) All prognoses
5) All future costs
6) All treatment plans
Now supposedly, the employees listed won't be identified by name...most likely numbers or something. But with all that info, it would be SO amazingly easy to figure out the names of those employees if they really want to find out. And if you or someone in your family have conditions that require continuing or future large medical costs, beware. From now on, your employer may just find a way to get rid of you...without, of course, leaving you any legal way to prove it is because of the medical bills. It cuts down on the company's budget, you know, to get rid of employees with those kind of health problems. Insurance companies can legally give companies a break on the cost of medical insurance if they show they have relatively healthy employees. I've heard that some employers are already finding ways to prescreen potential employees for health problems...not as easy to do that, but certainly possible.
So far only in Texas...but who knows what other states might be considering passing such legislation. Just watch them.



This message was edited Mar 16, 2008 1:29 PM