The Government Wants Your Medical Records. Here’s What You Need to Know.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — the federal agency that manages the government’s workforce and benefits — is quietly seeking access to the identifiable medical records of more than 8 million federal employees, retirees, and their families.

That includes you.

What OPM Is Proposing

In December 2025, OPM sent a notice to 65 insurance companies offering Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) plans — the programs that cover Hampton VA Medical Center employees. The notice instructs those insurers to provide monthly reports of member health data, including:

• 💊 Pharmacy claims — every prescription you filled
• 🏥 Medical claims — every doctor’s visit and what was treated
• 📋 Encounter data — potentially including physician notes and after-visit summaries
• 👤 Provider data — who treated you and for what

Critically: OPM’s notice does not require insurers to remove identifying information. Your name and birthdate stay attached.

Health law experts reviewed the notice and called it “quite broad” and “light on justification.” One legal scholar — a former OPM staffer who helped build the legal framework for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) — said it’s “kind of shocking” that no strict guardrails are being proposed.

Why This Should Alarm You

OPM says it needs the data to “ensure competitive, quality, and affordable plans.” That sounds reasonable. But health policy experts warn the real risk is what happens once that database exists.

“The concern here is the more information they have, they could use it to discipline or target people who are not cooperating politically,” said Sharona Hoffman, a health law ethicist at Case Western Reserve University, speaking to KFF Health News.

This is not hypothetical. Over the past year, the administration has fired federal workers for political reasons, tested the legal limits of sharing sensitive tax and health data across agencies, and used government databases as enforcement tools. Once OPM has your medical records — including treatment for mental health conditions, reproductive care, or any other sensitive issue — there are currently no guardrails preventing that data from being used against you.

Michael Martinez, senior counsel at Democracy Forward (a legal advocacy organization that filed a public comment opposing the proposal), put it plainly: “They’ve given no information about how they would treat that information once they have it.”

What the Law Says — And Doesn’t Say

HIPAA requires covered entities like insurers to protect your health information. But OPM is arguing it is entitled to this data for “oversight activities” — a justification experts say is vague and potentially insufficient.

Bottom line: this proposal may be illegal, and legal challenges are likely. But it was posted quietly in December, with minimal public attention, and the comment period has already closed.

What You Can Do Right Now

1. Contact your representatives — they’re home this week.
Congress is on spring recess. Tell your lawmakers this is unacceptable:

📞 Sen. Tim Kaine: (757) 518-1674
📞 Sen. Mark Warner: (757) 441-3079
📞 Rep. Bobby Scott: (757) 380-0028
📞 Rep. Jen Kiggans: (757) 744-2660

What to say: “I am a federal employee at Hampton VA Medical Center. OPM is proposing to collect my identifiable medical records without my consent. I am asking you to investigate and stop this proposal.”

2. Read the original notice.
Publicly available at regulations.gov: OPM-2025-0206-0049

3. Know your union is watching.
AFGE Local 2328 is tracking this. Any attempt to use employee health data in disciplinary or retaliatory actions will be met with a grievance. Your medical information is yours. We will fight to keep it that way.

4. Make sure you’re a member.
Non-members have far less protection. If your dues lapsed or you’ve never joined: afge.org/L2328

Source: Government Executive / KFF Health News, April 2026

In solidarity,
AFGE Local 2328 — Representing the employees of Hampton VA Medical Center