Canceling health insurance through employer

Australia's troubled My Health Record recorded 42 data breaches between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has said in its 2017-18 annual report [PDF]. Three of the breaches were reported to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and involved one breach of unauthorised access due to an incorrect Parental Authorised Representative being assigned to a child, and two breaches due to suspected Medicare fraud that resulted in the potential fraudster seeing records without authority. ADHA also said 17 breaches were found from the Department of Human Services identifying intertwined records where two or more people have been using the same Medicare record, and 22 breaches from attempted Medicare fraud where unauthorised claims appeared incorrectly in the My Health Record of affected users. "There have been no purposeful or malicious attacks compromising the integrity or security of the My Health Record system," ADHA said. The … [Read more...] about My Health Record had 42 data breaches in 2017-18 but no ‘malicious’ attacks: ADHA

Those wishing to opt-out of the federal government's My Health Record now officially have until January 31 to do so, with the House of Representatives on Monday passing amendments agreed upon in the Senate earlier this month.A day before the original opt-out date, Pauline Hanson put forward an amendment to extend the opt-out period by just over two months, after the federal opposition had its request for a 12-month extension blocked. It would be two weeks until the House of Representatives had the opportunity to agree to the changes.The opt-out period was originally meant to end on October 15, but was in August extended until November 15.It has been well over a month since the system operator -- the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) -- and Health Minister Greg Hunt have said how many Australians have opted out of the system since the option opened on July 16.The last figure was given on October 24, when a Senate committee was told that 1.147 million people had opted out as of … [Read more...] about My Health Record opt-out officially extended to January 31

The federal opposition wants to fix the Australian government's controversial My Health Record, focusing in particular on amending legislation to ensure control of the online medical file can never be privatised or commercialised.Labor has touted its plan as protecting the privacy of employees and women fleeing domestic violence, and as one protecting the public from having their medical history used by the likes of health insurers. "Labor supports electronic health records. But the Senate inquiry we initiated into the My Health Record has exposed a range of deficiencies that must be addressed before this scheme rolls out to every Australian," a statement from Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare Catherine King said.Specifically, Labor intends to move amendments to the Bill to prevent My Health Record from being privatised or commercialised; to disallow the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) from ever delegating access to My Health Record to other entities; to ensure private … [Read more...] about ​Labor seeks updated My Health Record legislation to prevent privatisation

Individuals wishing to opt out of the federal government's My Health Record will have an extra month to do so, with the period for cancelling the digital medical file extended until November 15, 2018. Originally, the opt-out period was from July 16 through October 15, 2018. On the first day of the opt-out window, 20,000 people chose not have a digital health record. According to a statement from Minister for Health Greg Hunt, extending the opt-out period follows a request from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal College of General Practitioners. He also said delaying the opt-out period gives Australians "more time to consider their options as we strengthen the 2012 My Health Record legislation". "The government will amend the 2012 legislation to ensure if someone wishes to cancel their record they will be able to do so permanently, with their record deleted from the system forever," Hunt explained. Although the federal government is automatically … [Read more...] about ​Opt-out period for My Health Record officially extended until November 15