5 ms·

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, li

by rst 13y ago

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?

DannyBee 13y ago
While common, and almost arguably a rewrite of their other privacy policy, this phrasing is actually different than what is used on roughly every other maryland .gov site, which all share privacy policies, even where they have forms or other info being submitted. I can find a very small number of trivial exceptions to this. So it is at least a little surprising. The ACA of course, is many thousand pages. I have no idea if they are required to have this. I'll point out that while it's currently 404'ing, california's "covered california" site had a privacy policy up that said something similar: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Tqicl-XfzSsJ:www.coveredca.com/npp.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Tqicl-X... "Health care operations: Information may be shared with health plans and government agencies to oversee how the insurance is being provided, for quality assurance, audits, for fraud and abuse prevention programs, and for planning and management purposes;" "Other limited purposes: Information will be shared for other purposes when we are required by law to do so, such as for workers’ compensation, public health activities and risks, health oversight activities, law enforcement activities, coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors, military and veterans affairs, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the president and others, and for inmates."
pappyo 13y ago
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.
- talmand 13y ago
  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.

by rst 13y ago

DannyBee 13y ago

While common, and almost arguably a rewrite of their other privacy policy, this phrasing is actually different than what is used on roughly every other maryland .gov site, which all share privacy policies, even where they have forms or other info being submitted. I can find a very small number of trivial exceptions to this. So it is at least a little surprising. The ACA of course, is many thousand pages. I have no idea if they are required to have this. I'll point out that while it's currently 404'ing, california's "covered california" site had a privacy policy up that said something similar: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Tqicl-XfzSsJ:www.coveredca.com/npp.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Tqicl-X... "Health care operations: Information may be shared with health plans and government agencies to oversee how the insurance is being provided, for quality assurance, audits, for fraud and abuse prevention programs, and for planning and management purposes;" "Other limited purposes: Information will be shared for other purposes when we are required by law to do so, such as for workers’ compensation, public health activities and risks, health oversight activities, law enforcement activities, coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors, military and veterans affairs, national security and intelligence activities, protective services for the president and others, and for inmates."

pappyo 13y ago

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.

talmand 13y ago
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.