Blue Shield of California initially sought an “expansive” amount of medical data from the University of California Health system in exchange for vaccine doses under the state’s revamped allocation plan that awards extensive powers to the insurance giant, a move that has prompted objections from UC and alarm from patient privacy advocates.
UC Health spokeswoman Heather Harper said representatives for the UC system contacted Blue Shield and the contract was revised to “limit access just to vaccination records and only by federal and state agencies and their contractors.” The university health system declined to elaborate on what kind of patient data Blue Shield requested.
“We brought concerns to the attention of the Third Party Administrator about a seemingly expansive scope of access to patient data,” Harper said of discussions with Blue Shield about the original contract. “… We were able to resolve the issue.”
UC ultimately signed the contract Thursday.
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