Can I Please Have Some Privacy?

It is becoming more and more evident that privacy no longer applies in the realm of workers’ compensation.  In the last decade as States have converted to electronic record keeping, privacy has suffered.  This past week California released workers’ compensation claim data regarding Nadya Suleman, the women who recently gave birth to octuplets.  This occurred after months of objections by claimants and attorneys who saw California’s electronic system as flawed.

It is not only the States that are disregarding claimants’ privacy.  HIPPA (The Health Care Personal Information Non-Disclosure Act) which protects a persons’ right to privacy regarding their medical records, specifically excludes workers’ compensation.  However, The Institute of Medicine committee is on the right path and recently recommended that health agencies and Congress implement a new approach to protect privacy in health research.  They released a 316 page report that concluded that HIPPA does not protect privacy.

The Federal government must find a way to implement the privacy that we enjoy in other areas of our lives into the workers’ compensation system.  Privacy should never be so blatantly disregarded.