health-insurance employer
Health Insurance Usage for Employers
<p>Do employers look at health insurance usage, and use that data to possibly lay people off for incurring too much usage?</p>

<p>1) Would such a practice be legal
2) Even if it were illegal, could employers be using such data regardless?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>The "<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/administrative/combined/hipaa-simplification-201303.pdf?language=es" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Privacy Rule</a>" of HIPAA would prohibit this from happening. §164.504(f)(2)(ii) imposes requirements on group health plan documents (agreements), which must </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Provide that the group health plan  will disclose protected health 
  information to the plan sponsor only  upon receipt of a certification
  by the  plan sponsor that the plan documents  have been amended to
  incorporate  the following provisions and that the  plan sponsor
  agrees to</p>
</blockquote>

<p>...</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(C) Not use or disclose the  information for employment-related 
  actions and decisions or in  connection with any other benefit or 
  employee benefit plan of the plan  sponsor;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>We can infer from this that the insurer could disclose to the sponsor such details (since the sponsor must agree not to use it to e.g. fire people).</p>
