For all who are concerned about privacy issues and theft of personal and medical info, please avail yourselves of the following which is part of the law but translated here into everyday langauge.

As of January of 2008, insurance companies will be required to submit monthly reports on the first day of each month of the previous month’s membership, identifying those individuals for whom they provided “creditable coverage.” The Bureau will maintain a database of all health plan membership to confirm who in the Commonwealth has health insurance coverage and during what time frames.

Medical providers, likewise, must submit monthly reports with similar and other unspecified details or face substantial penalties and possible prosecution.

There are penalties for nonpayment or late payment by a employer, medical provider or individual who does not provide information within the state’s time frame

The law stipulates that many state and federal agencies will have access to the personal and financial information of all citizens and be used as needed. The law says that no specific medical data will be included.

All information and communication is done by an newly developed, internet-based computer system and updated and cross-matched monthly.

Some of these agencies that will collect and share personal information via the Internet are:

Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority
State Division of Unemployment Assistance
State Division of Health Care Finance and Policy
State Division of Insurance
State Department of Revenue
MassHealth
State Office of Medicaid
State Dept. of Public Health
State Division of Unemployment Assistance
State Dept. of Health and Human Services
Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics
Department of Veteran’s Services
Department of Industrial Accidents
Internal Revenue Service
Social Security Administration
Bureau of Special Investigations
Department of Transitional Assistance (welfare)
Alien Verification Information System
Health insurance carriers
Third party (outside hired contractors for any agency-the law explicitly provides for this)
The Federal Government will also have access to this data

The State has contracted for all individual information and billing functions to be held and processed in a huge computerized data base that is administered by an international company called Maximus. Another company, Vecna will also be involved. UPDATE: I believe the Connector dumped Maximus and has hired another company but I’m not up to speed on that info yet.

This massive amount of data sharing opens too many Pandora’s boxes such as, but not limited to:

Medical cost fraud – more access to info so more opportunity to overlap billing and no one will know the difference

Political reprisals
Denial of other types of insurance
Job security and future employment
Access to future health care
Discrimination in personal coverage and cost of future health care
Medical fraud
Identity theft
Residents have not been informed about these databases and exchange of personal and financial information and, thus, have not given their informed consent or any other consent for their information to be passed around

When will the public be informed about the massive data-collection system in place to manage the mandate and where their personal and financial information is being sent? This information must be disclosed on all eligibility and/or application forms by any and all insurance companies, state and private.

How can they be sure their confidential medical records are not being shared?

How many more entities will be added to this list?

How can we trust the electronic integrity of this system?

In spring 2007 I asked two Connector CSRs what comes up on their screen if I were to give my social security number. I was informed: name, address, total monthly work income, total monthly interest income and, I believe, profession. I don’t know if this has changed since then but I doubt it. Nonetheless, I did not give my consent, assumed, informed or otherwise, for this information to be made available to such a staff.