Researchers Doctors, hospitals and other organizations often donate data for scientific purposes, but they're not supposed to release names. If they provide insurance, they can receive copies of your claims or medical records. Direct Marketers Information can be used for marketing purposes when you participate in informal health screenings, such as for cholesterol or blood pressure at your local drug store. So the department will go forward, according to a spokeswoman, but not so quickly as to pre-empt Congress if it takes action this fall. That turns up the heat on Capitol Hill.
Medical privacy is difficult terrain for federal lawmakers.
They must navigate around a patchwork of popular state laws, many of them targeted to specific conditions such as HIV and genetic disorders. And to cap it off, political pressure to prompt them into action so far has been low. A single organization is solely devoted to the cause, the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University. But the oddest feature may be the contrast between fears ordinary Americans claim to have about medical privacy, and their failure to communicate that to Washington. Ms. Goldman cites a recent study for the California HealthCare Foundation showing just a third of U.S. adults trust health plans to maintain confidentiality.