Obamacare Marketplace: Personal Data Can Be Used For ‘Law Enforcement and Audit

Published on The Weekly Standard (http://www.weeklystandard.com)
Jeryl Bier
October 8, 2013 3:39 PM
Maryland’s Health Connection, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, has been plagued by delays in the first days of open enrollment. If users are able to endure long page-loading delays, they are presented with the website’s privacy policy, a ubiquitous fine-print feature on websites that often go unread. Nevertheless, users are asked to check off a box that they agree to the terms.

The policy contains many standard statements about information automatically collected regarding Internet browsers and IP addresses, temporary “cookies” used by the site, and website accessibility. However, at least two conditions may give some users pause before proceeding.

The first is regarding personal information submitted with an application for those users who follow through on the sign up process all the way to the end. The policy states that all information to help in applying for coverage and even for making a payment will be kept strictly confidential and only be used to carry out the function of the marketplace. There is, however, an exception: “[W]e may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.” Here is the entire paragraph from the policy the includes the exception [emphasis added]: Should you decide to apply for health coverage through Maryland Health Connection, the information you supply in your application will be used to determine whether you are eligible for health and dental coverage offered through Maryland Health Connection and for insurance affordability programs.

It also may be used to assist you in making a payment for the insurance plan you select, and for related automated reminders or other activities permitted by law. We will preserve the privacy of personal records and protect confidential or privileged information in full accordance with federal and State law. We will not sell your information to others.

Any information that you provide to us in your application will be used only to carry out the functions of Maryland Health Connection. The only exception to this policy is that we may share information provided in your application with the appropriate authorities for law enforcement and audit activities.

The site does not specify if “appropriate authorities” refers only to state authorities or if it could include the federal government, as well. Neither is there any detail on what type of law enforcement and/or audit activities would justify the release of the personal information, or who exactly is authorized to make such a determination. An email to the Maryland Health Connection’s media contact seeking clarification has not yet been answered

The second privacy term that may prompt caution by users relates to email communications. The policy reads: If you send us an e-mail, we use the information you send us to respond to your inquiry. E-mail correspondence may become a public record. As a public record, your correspondence could be disclosed to other parties upon their request in accordance with Maryland’s Public Information Act.

Since emails to the marketplace could conceivably involve private matters regarding finances, health history, and other sensitive issues, the fact that such information could be made part of the “public record” could prevent users from being as free with their information than they might otherwise be. However, as noted, any requests for such emails would still be subject to Maryland’s Public Information Act which contains certain exceptions to the disclosure rules.
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ORIGINAL

SPACE BARBIE WAS VISITED BY ALIENS AT A YOUNG AGE

The world knows Valeria Lukyanova as the girl who turned herself into a real-life Barbie doll. Controversy has surrounded her every move since her computer-perfect visage went viral last year.

However, what most of the world doesn’t know is that Valeria is not a real girl at all, but a time-traveling spiritual guru whose purpose is to save the world from the clutches of superficiality and negative energy.

Valeria, a.k.a. Space Barbie, gives us exclusive access to her world to show us how physical perfection truly is the best medium through which to deliver life-changing philosophy to the human race.

via Space Barbie | VICE Australia / NZ.

FAMILIES OF FALLEN SOLDIERS TO RECEIVE BODIES NO BENEFITS

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A cargo plane carrying the bodies of four fallen U.S. soldiers landed at Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday, greeted by loved ones whose grief is laced with outrage that even they have not been spared from the government shutdown.

The solemn transfer ceremony is expected to take place in an atmosphere of tearful silence about 100 miles from the political bickering in the nation’s capital, where a death benefit for the families of service members killed in the line of duty has fallen victim to the budget impasse.

The chaplain of the Senate, Barry Black, directly invoked the denial of the benefit in his daily opening prayer before the chamber.

“Lord, when our federal shutdown delays payments of death benefits to the families of children dying on far-away battlefields, it’s time for our lawmakers to say enough is enough,” he said. “Cover our shame with the robe of your righteousness.”

via Families of fallen soldiers to receive bodies, no benefits – U.S. News.

$2,800 PER MONTH FOR EVERY ADULT? IT COULD HAPPEN IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland will hold a vote on whether to introduce a basic income for all adults, in a further sign of growing public activism over pay inequality since the financial crisis. 

A grassroots committee is calling for all adults in Switzerland to receive an unconditional income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,800) per month from the state, with the aim of providing a financial safety net for the population. 

Organizers submitted more than the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum on Friday and tipped a truckload of 8 million five-rappen coins outside the parliament building in Berne, one for each person living in Switzerland. 

Under Swiss law, citizens can organize popular initiatives that allow the channeling of public anger into direct political action. The country usually holds several referenda a year. 

In March, Swiss voters backed some of the world’s strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation. 

A separate proposal to limit monthly executive pay to no more than what the company’s lowest-paid staff earn in a year, the so-called 1:12 initiative, faces a popular vote on November 24. 

The initiative’s organizing committee said the basic income could partly be financed through money from social insurance systems in Switzerland. 

The timing of the vote has yet to be announced, pending official guidance from the government. 

via $2,800 per month for every adult? It could happen in Switzerland – NBC News.com.

GUNMAN KILLED AFTER SHOTS FIRED AT W VIRGINIA FEDERAL BUILDING

A gunman fired multiple rounds into the federal building in Wheeling, W.Va., on Wednesday afternoon and was shot dead by police, according to news reports.

A security guard suffered minor injuries when the unidentified suspect fired an estimated 20 rounds into the building at 2:30 p.m., The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reported.

Authorities identified the gunman as Thomas Picard, who died at a local hospital, WV MetroNews reported. U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said he was a former Wheeling police officer.

City resident Carla Webb Daniels said she saw the man reload his assault rifle and then fire at a nearby YWCA. She said he fired between 25 and 30 rounds.

An unidentified store manager said it sounded like the shooter used two different weapons.

Police reportedly shot the gunman, whose motive remains unknown.

The building houses the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, along with regional offices of the Social Security Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration.

via Gunman killed after firing at W. Va. federal building.

ANOTHER INCIDENT ALONG UPPER WEST SIDE’S WEST SIDE HIGHWAY CONFIRMS A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE

The motorcyclists came together gradually last Sunday morning, their ranks growing into the hundreds as they moved through Brooklyn and Queens, alerted by friends, social media posts and text messages to join an annual ride.

Raw video shows a throng of motorcyclists chasing an SUV up New York City’s West Side highway. The SUV later pulled onto a side street, and motorcyclists attacked the driver of the vehicle. Video: YouTube

About the same time, financial district resident Alexian Lien, a 33-year-old vice president at Credit Suisse, and his wife, Rosalyn Ng, placed their young daughter into her car seat in a black Range Rover. They headed north on a trip to celebrate their two-year wedding anniversary.

The bikers and the family clashed on the Henry Hudson Parkway on Manhattan’s west side, in a confrontation seen around the world in a video taken by one of the bikers wearing a helmet camera. Mr. Lien’s wife said her family feared for their lives. Some bikers present said they converged on Mr. Lien’s SUV as a defensive maneuver because they say he was weaving from side to side.

via Behind the Biker Chase on the West Side Highway – WSJ.com.

GOV SHUT DOWN REVEALS 86% UNNECESSARY FAT… WTF?

As if we didn’t already know how useless and unnecessary the EPA is, following the government shutdown we saw just how little we really need them. When various government agencies were releasing many of their workers on furlough with lack of funding, the EPA went through its employees and decided which were “essential” and which were “non-essential”.

According to an EPA guidance, which Reuters obtained, the agency said it only had 1,069 of its 16,205 employees listed as “essential”. That is only 6.6 percent of their workforce! This guidance, which is used in the event of a government shutdown, also said that “most workers in the Office of Air and Radiation, which is in charge of writing and implementing most of the EPA’s major air pollution rules,” would be furloughed.

Why is it that we have an agency that could run on less than 7 percent of current staff?

To be clear: the EPA openly admits more than 9 out of every 10 employees at the EPA are non-essential.

Although this government shutdown may not be considered as the greatest way to get through funding differences, perhaps there is a silver lining here.

When agencies are forced to go through their list of employees and whether they are integral to the organization’s work it seems we get quite a sneak peek into how we could gut and cut the government bureaucracy.

Is it just me, or should all employees be essential in order to remain at their jobs?

This could be a good way to go forward with finding places to cut money in the budget.

-Heather Ginsburg

U.S. Congress Introduces Bill Ordering “FEMA” to Conduct ‘Mass Fatality Planning


While millions of Americans were busy watching the elephant puppet battle the ass puppet at the latest political circus, the United States Congress quietly introduced a new piece of legislation ordering the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to begin preparing for mass casualties throughout the country.

House Resolution 6566, also known as the Mass Fatality Planning and Religious Considerations Act, would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to mandate that FEMA immediately begin conducting “mass fatality planning” in preparation for a major event or series of events that may kill off untold numbers of people.

Introduced by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Ca.), H.R. 6566 provisions that the Administrator of FEMA — William Craig Fugate currently holds the Administrator position at FEMA (http://www.fema.gov/leadership/william-craig-fugate) — provide “guidance and coordination” for dealing with a mass casualty event arising from a natural disaster, terrorist act, or “other man-made disaster.”

Read all:

UPPER WESTSIDE WALL OF PROTECTION WEAKENING

In preparation for the entrance of his unholiness, who has been given the keys to the bottomless pit, whereby according to their own writings, hundreds of wrathful deities are released into the city to cause destruction and mayhem, a precursor occurred “along the water” as these water spirits, manifested themselves via a black man stabbing and thrashing the throats of some attacking even a baby, seeking to spill innocent blood, in order to give the soon to be invited wrathful deities, a further strong hold.

If you remember after the one who comes saying Peace, Peace, last time he did rituals in the city, then there was sudden destruction, Hurricane Sandy, but the upper west side was spared. WHY ?

Then Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, whereby Vice President Joe Biden advised everyone “you don’t need an AR15, use a shot gun” where by the DC shooter took up his advice.

Do you remember the heavy storm, then New Jersey Pier burning?
They were trying to regain entrance into the city, but couldn’t and moved to DC where by the DC shooter took up Vice President Joe Biden’s advice and used a shot gun, and took a hand gun from a guard.

Why couldn’t they access upper westside ?

As you saw above, the demons that use people, do not need an AR15, or a shot gun, or a Kettle Bomb, just grab something long and sharp…

When will we grow up, and dis-allow people who claim to evoke wrathful deities, and practice occult rituals in our cities?

It is costing us billions$$

Man Wielding Scissors Stabs 5, Including Toddler, in 9 Minutes at Upper West Side Park: Officials | NBC New York

man wielding scissors stabbed and slashed a 2-year-old boy, his father and three other people in a series of random attacks in less than 10 minutes along a popular running and biking path on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Tuesday morning.

 

One of the women, 36, was stabbed in the chest and is in critical condition, law enforcement officials said. A 32-year-old woman was injured in the neck, a 36-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach and the 35-year-old father of the boy was slashed on the chest. The toddler also had a slash wound.

 

Police have a 43-year-old suspect in custody who is described as a homeless man from Texas  suffering from psychological problems.

 

According to police, a bystander who lives nearby held down the suspect until police arrived.

 

“He did a good job,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

 

The suspect allegedly began the bloody assault at about 7:55 a.m. in a swath of parkland called Riverside Park South at 64th Street and continued slashing and stabbing people for three blocks, ending at 61st Street nine minutes later, according to law enforcement officials. 

 

His first victim was a woman he stabbed in the back, his second was a man walking his dog, his third was the woman slashed in the neck, and his final attack was on the man and child, police said.

 

Vincent Mallard, who was working security at a nearby construction site, said he helped flag down police when he saw a woman in jogging clothes clutching her throat and bleeding, coming toward him.

 

“She was in pain, she was in agony, she was putting pressure to her neck,” Mallard told NBC 4 New York. “I was just trying to make a difference and I just hope everyone is OK.”

Yellow crime scene tape cordoned off part of the park, including a stroller, as authorities gathered evidence.

via Man Wielding Scissors Stabs 5, Including Toddler, in 9 Minutes at Upper West Side Park: Officials | NBC New York.