When individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid enroll in aligned Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) or other models that coordinate care across programs, the range of providers with potential access to their health and demographic data and the amount of data available both expand. This offers significant opportunities to improve care coordination among providers on both the Medicare and Medicaid side. At the same time, the broader sharing of sensitive health and demographic information increases the importance of privacy policies.  

A new Justice in Aging issue brief, Data and Discrimination: Improving Data Privacy for Low-Income Older Adults in Managed Care, examines the very personal privacy concerns of low-income older adults in managed care, particularly those who rely on health aides and other providers for their most intimate needs. It examines the link between privacy and discrimination fears and proposes practices that plans can put in place to strengthen protections by addressing both elements together.

This issue brief is part of a four-part series, Risks and Rewards of Demographic Data Collection: How Effective Data Privacy Can Promote Health Equity - National Health Law Program, a joint project of the National Health Law Program, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Justice in Aging, Movement Advancement Project, and Race Forward.