JoAnne Young reports:
A state agency director is objecting to Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley’s request for personal health-care records of about 30,000 state employees and family members.
“I will say the Department of Administrative Services and the governor are vehemently opposed to releasing confidential health care information on employees,” said DAS Director Carlos Castillo.
Foley has asked for the records so he can examine whether the costs of state health plans are too high. The request is part of a performance audit he has been conducting since April.
Foley claims authorization:
Foley said the Department of Administrative Services informs employees their insurance claims are subject to audit by oversight agencies, including state government. According to the notice of privacy practices, “we may disclose your protected health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as (an) audit.”
But their role in the audit isn’t really health oversight as much as financial/cost management oversight, isn’t it?
Read more in the Lincoln Journal Star
If I were a state employee there, I’d be very uncomfortable about the state turning over such detailed records to a state auditor, even with a nondisclosure agreement.