Employer Based Insurance and Medical Privacy

As far as I know this is legal. Although I don't think you can fire someone based on an illness. An employer could just decide to "downsize" the person and it would be hard to challenge in court.

Health history can also be checked at the time someone applies for a job. The employer can give your personal information to their health insurer and they will do a check into your medical history via your social security number. The insurer can then let the employer know if he will be hiring someone who might cause their rates to go up. Over the years the odds (read: laws) have been stacked in favor of corporations and insurance agencies.

Things like this can vary from state to state and the best place to get information would be your State Attorney General.

Thanks for the info Green Witch... as scary as it is. Just one more reason to get away from employer based health care I guess.

This may be jurisdiction-based.

In Canada, it is illegal for an insurer to give any information about a claimant to anyone else without the claimant providing a VERY explicit release as to what information is being released, to who, and for what specific purpose.

So, in this example, an employer can not get any information about an employee's medical status without the employee authorizing the release of the information, or providing the information themselves.

The one time I've seen it of benefit to the employee to release the information is in the development of return to work programs for people who need workplace modifications to be provided.