
Obamacare: Personal Data Can Be Used For ‘Law Enforcement and Audit Activities’ - stfu
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obamacare-marketplace-personal-data-can-be-used-law-enforcement-and-audit-activities_762237.html
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nonchalance
Is there a politically neutral group that compared this text to the fine print
with other insurance providers? The Weekly Standard is a notably conservative,
anti-obamacare group (and I wonder to what extent they are overblowing what
seems like standard text)

NOTE: I don't mean to suggest that the message is diminished by the political
colors of the bearer, but the highlighted clauses seem like fairly standard
legal language that appear in other insurance website privacy policies (in
contrast to the implication in the article).

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interstitial
I agree, no need for caution when it comes to liberty and due process. The
"true" media has never steered us wrong.

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rst
The "law enforcement" part is common in privacy policies; if whoever's running
a web site gets a subpoena for personal information (or something more exotic,
like an NSL), they don't really have the option of keeping it to themselves,
and the clause just acknowledges that.

This leaves "audit activities"; is that a phrase defined elsewhere in the
document?

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pappyo
Not sure about the document, but I can wager an informed guess as to what
"audit activities" means.

I've gone through the Massachusetts Health application process(the model for
the ACA). To qualify for subsidised healthcare, your current income cannot be
more than 300% of the poverty line. If you qualify for subsidized healthcare,
you are told that you must notify Mass Health if your financial situation
changes.

So, if you applied for Mass Health because you lost your job, you can't stay
on Mass Health when you find another one.

The lovely Mass Health bureaucrat made it clear that I was susceptible to an
audit and fraud charges if I didn't report an "income event" (I believe that's
what she called it) in a timely matter.

Her explanation might shed light on the phrase "audit activities". But I
haven't actually read the Obamacare legislation, so I can't say for certain.

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talmand
I'm willing to bet something like this will be done but I don't know if it's
the explanation of the "audit activities" phrase.

Since you can apply for subsidies that take income into account, it stands to
reason they would need to do the occasional audit to determine if your current
income matches what you claim on the exchange.

How to do that? Well, the IRS is heavily involved in the enforcement of these
laws so it stands to reason that every once in a while the exchange will
compare notes with the IRS to make sure your stated income on both forms
match.

I expect this to happen sometime after April every year.

I'd be curious if there are penalties outlined in the law about getting extra
subsidies based on lying on the exchange about your income levels. If you
decide to read the law and get to that part of the monstrosity, then let us
know what it says.

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nsfmc
this is a misleading title in particular because it applies to the maryland
exchange's website and not, as a whole, to 'obamacare.'

regardless, how is this any different than any other website handing over
information when a lawful request has been made? is there some expectation
that exchanges are immune from these sorts of requests from law enforcement
agencies?

similarly, is there any question that correspondence with a public agency can
potentially be entered into a public record? this doesn't actually overturn
doctor patient confidentiality (which _would_ be worthy of a scary headline),
it's just enumerating the same problems you likely already need to contend
with when dealing with private insurance.

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ScottWhigham
_similarly, is there any question that correspondence with a public agency can
potentially be entered into a public record?_

As many HIPPA-related documents as I've had to sign as a consultant working
in/around medical and as a patient, I'd have assumed HIPPA was in force here
as well since we're talking (a) medical info that is (b) personally
identifiable.

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nsfmc
agreed, it would be particularly disturbing if a govt service were flaunting
its blatant disregard for hippa (which, again, would be headline-worthy for
that reason alone)

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skwirl
"[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate
authorities for law enforcement and audit activities."

Sounds like fraud detection and reporting. Is this really a problem?

~~~
fein
"Do you use illegal drugs? If so which ones. When did you last use? How often
do you use?"

Yeah no risk at all with this...

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talmand
Illegal drugs? Think a tad bit differently, think of states where marijuana is
legal but is still illegal on the Federal level.

If you go to surgery you really should tell them about drug usage to make sure
they compensate in their drugs, but the Feds might be interested to know as
well.

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hawkharris
The Weekly Standard appears to have a very partisan tone in this article and
others concerning the Affordable Care Act. Obviously, the ACA is politically
divisive. Everyone should be able to debate and critique it, _but_ those who
do condemn the approach need to propose a viable, stronger alternative.

This isn't an academic debate in which we have the luxury of finding a perfect
solution. As Howard Zinn said about politics, "We're on a moving train." I
worked for a health care center in a city where 1/3 of residents were
uninsured, unable to afford check-ups and essential services. A similar
dynamic exists in hundreds of other U.S. regions.

So, if you shoot holes in a solution (in this case, the ACA), please add to
the conversation by proposing alternatives to address the urgent, obvious
problems in U.S. health care.

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talmand
Wait, so you're saying that if I see something as a bad idea I have to propose
alternative solutions before I can say anything?

If you see my alternative solutions as a bad idea does the rule apply to you
as well? Do you just repeat the idea I say is bad to refute my idea you say is
bad? Doesn't seem a good way to debate, just seems a good way to shut down
disagreement.

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hawkharris
It's about how you phrase things - and your intentions. It's the difference
between...

The Affordable Care Act will never work because it's too expensive.

And...

What steps can we take to make affordable healthcare more financially viable?

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talmand
Who gets to define the appropriate way to phrase things?

I see the difference between your two examples but they don't necessarily work
for me in terms of what you were saying.

There's nothing wrong with saying the ACA will never work because it's too
expensive. It's an opinion that could be proven wrong. A potential intention
is to stop the ACA because it is too expensive and I fail to see what's wrong
with that intention if the person actually feels that way. A good response to
the statement is to ask for details as to why one would think that, not tell
them to offer alternatives or shut up.

As for your second example. If I were a big supporter of the ACA my answer to
your question is easy, the answer is simply the ACA. Which does not further
the debate in any way.

Maybe the "about how you phrase things" and "intentions" should be considered
a two-way street?

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SubZero
The law enforcement and audit activities kind of makes sense with the
territory. In my mind, at least. BUT if personal emails and details are
therefore considered public record, doesn't that completely break HIPPA
privacy requirements? Requirements the government wrote?!

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at-fates-hands
I was thinking more like people who logged in, created an account, then got
sticker shock and decided not to sign up.

Well, now the government has a database of people who aren't enrolled and can
now start fining them. Add in the fact that the IRS can simply take money from
their bank accounts and you have some real issues with this law.

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DerpDerpDerp
I'm generally for governments doing things, in terms of personal ideology.

That aside, I think that we need to take a big step back from making
everything we can think of automated, integrated, and available online until
we take a hard look at the role of privacy and the nature of public records
about individual's information.

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ChikkaChiChi
I wouldn't have clicked on a news article six years ago with "Bushighanistan"
in the title and I won't do it today when a fundamental human right is derided
with such a stupid name.

This country needs to grow up.

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robg
FUD (Considering the source)

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DarrenMills
Affordable Care Act

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Casseres
The President himself, said he likes the term "Obamacare".

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judk
Which still doesn't make it right.

