2218

VETOES

AN ACT concerning

Medical Records — Privacy

FOR the purpose of defining circumstances under which
medical information may be released; and making this

Honorable James Clark, Jr.
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 367.

This bill amends Article 48A Section 354-O of the Code
to permit a nonprofit health service plan to disclose
medical information concerning patient subscribers under two
circumstances. The first is when the disclosure is
necessary to verify benefits paid on the nonprofit health
plan on behalf of a patient-subscriber, pursuant to a cost
containment contract. The second circumstance is when the
information, disclosed to a third party payor, is of a
nonspecific nature and is required for an audit of a billing
made by the nonprofit health service plan to the payor.

House Bill 1089, which was enacted by the General
Assembly and signed by me on May 29, 1979, accomplishes the
same purpose. In addition, House Bill 1089 contains several
other provisions. In particular, I note that the House Bill
eliminates an unreasonable disparity in the provisions
relating to nonprofit health service plans and private
insurance companies. By amendment to Article 48A, Section
490E, the House Bill provides that private insurance
companies are allowed the "use of medical records, data, or
statistics if the use does not disclose the identity of a
particular insured or covered person." Since a comparable
provision already exists in the current law under Article
48A, Section 354—0 regarding nonprofit health service plans,
the effect of the amendment is to provide uniformity in area
that ought to be addressed uniformly.

For these reasons, I have decided to veto Senate Bill
367.

Sincerely,
Harry Hughes
Governor