It enabled the subprime mortgage bubble and collapse. I'm sure it will be at least as helpful for the medical insurance companies.
Also, if I recall correctly, there's health information on your credit report...yup, check the bolded line from this, on employment background checks:
Aren't some of my personal records confidential?
The following types of information may be useful for an employer to make a hiring decision. However, under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the employer is required to get your permission before obtaining the records. (See PRC Fact Sheet 11, "From Cradle to Grave: Government Records and Your Privacy," www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs11-pub.htm)
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- Medical records. In California and many states, medical records are confidential. There are only a few instances when a medical record can be released without your knowledge or authorization. The FCRA also requires your specific permission for the release of medical records. If employers require physical examinations after they make a job offer, they will have access to the results. The Americans with Disabilities Act allows a potential employer to inquire only about your ability to perform specific job functions. (42 USC ยง12101)
The FCRA is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and I don't think the FCRA compels credit agencies to show YOU that information at all...after all, it's not credit information.
Oh, right...this is what brought all that on...
Prescription Data Used To Assess Consumers
Records Aid Insurers but Prompt Privacy Concerns
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 4, 2008; A01
Health and life insurance companies have access to a powerful new tool for evaluating whether to cover individual consumers: a health "credit report" drawn from databases containing prescription drug records on more than 200 million Americans.
Collecting and analyzing personal health information in commercial databases is a fledgling industry, but one poised to take off as the nation enters the age of electronic medical records. While lawmakers debate how best to oversee the shift to computerized records, some insurers have already begun testing systems that tap into not only prescription drug information, but also data about patients held by clinical and pathological laboratories.
