[retired]

Imagine if his health insurance premiums got raised because of it, if he loses a job opportunity due to background checks or if he gets arrested because of it. Even going through customs or getting a visa can be tricky with a history of cocaine on your record.

[fc417fc802]

All of those things are illegal FYI. Medical and criminal records are entirely different things.

[retired]

For now. With all that is happening in the US I wouldn't be surprised if medical records will become public for law enforcement and immigration.

I'm here in Europe on a private health plan, my blood results go straight to my insurance company. Wouldn't be surprised if my premiums got adjusted if my cholesterol goes up.

[kube-system]

Since the late 90s, the US has been continually moving the opposite way of what you are suggesting. You are hearing about it because people have been demanding changes to the way it used to be.

[EvanAnderson]

I wonder how it changes the calculus when medical data is leaked into the public domain then hoovered-up by data brokers.

Is a law being broken by a data broker if a credible case can be made that the data was publicly available?

I would think the leaking party would be subject to action, but does the "taint" of the data being private somehow get "washed away" if it becomes publicly available? Asked another way, is a party who consumes illegally-leaked but publicly available data also on the hook for privacy regulations.

[kelnos]

It's only illegal until someone in power decides it isn't. Anyone watching the US over the past year should know that by now. (And anyone who has lived under a repressive regime or a country that has slid into autocracy or fascism already knows this well.)

[quickthrowman]

I have plenty of chemical dependency medical records, it has had zero impact on me at all (the records, not the chemical dependency). Heroin and alcohol.

Your medical records can only be viewed if you approve access, and employers are not allowed to ask for medical records. Foreign countries can’t see your medical records when you apply for a visa.

Possibly it could impact life insurance if you need to turn over medical records, but my life insurance policy was written after my drug abuse days so I don’t think it would matter.