Utah Senator Stuart Reid has promised to back legislation requiring providers to notify patients upfront that they share patient data with government programs, according to a Salt Lake Tribune report.
The proposal follows a state Medicaid breach this past spring, in which information on 780,000 patients was sent to a poorly protected state server that was hacked. A large portion of the patients had no connection to Medicaid — they were privately insured or on Medicare — but their information was still exposed.
Sen. Reid is still adjusting the language of the bill with the consult of health industry leaders. His wife was a victim of the breach.
"This is an issue of trust, not only vis-à-vis the taxpayer and the government, but between the provider and patient," Sen. Reid said in the report. "If I sign a form allowing my [physician] to 'ping' Medicaid, that's one thing. But for [him or her] to do it without informed consent, that's another thing."
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The proposal follows a state Medicaid breach this past spring, in which information on 780,000 patients was sent to a poorly protected state server that was hacked. A large portion of the patients had no connection to Medicaid — they were privately insured or on Medicare — but their information was still exposed.
Sen. Reid is still adjusting the language of the bill with the consult of health industry leaders. His wife was a victim of the breach.
"This is an issue of trust, not only vis-à-vis the taxpayer and the government, but between the provider and patient," Sen. Reid said in the report. "If I sign a form allowing my [physician] to 'ping' Medicaid, that's one thing. But for [him or her] to do it without informed consent, that's another thing."
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