A quick update on the case involving the state of Vermont’s demand for claims data from Liberty Mutual’s group health plan — the state agreed to drop its immediate demand for this information, pending the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit. The state’s health and insurance agency had issued a subpoena for this data, and Liberty Mutual in turn had sought a court injunction to block it.
The dispute only involves data on 137 individuals anyway, noted Clifford Peterson, general counsel for the state agency. The case will now be litigated on a regular schedule, he said.
As we noted before, Vermont is gathering enrollment and claims data from private health plans, including self-insured ERISA plans, for a health care quality database. Liberty Mutual refused to turn over data from its own self-funded plan, citing an ERISA fiduciary duty to guard participants’ privacy, and ERISA preemption of the state’s attempt to extend the requirement to self-funded plans and their service providers.
Peterson downplayed the privacy concerns raised by Liberty Mutual. The participant information the state is gathering is not personally identifiable to begin with, is encrypted in transit and is safeguarded “zealously” once the state has it, he said. The state also disputes the ERISA preemption claim, he added, because “we’re not interfering with the ERISA plan at all.”
Information on HIPAA and other privacy issues in health benefits administration can be found in the Employer’s Guide to HIPAA Privacy Requirements.