Full Breakdown
OPM to Gather Health Data on Federal Employees and Retirees
7/26/2026, 10:54:28 AM
Core Plan and Timeline
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a notice that will take effect on July 24 and will allow the agency to begin routine collection of identifiable health information for more than 8 million federal workers, retirees and their families. The data will come from 65 insurance companies that administer the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) programs, as well as from Medicare for individuals who are dual enrollees. The agency’s new director, Scott Kupor, and deputy Eric Ueland were sworn in on April 3, 2025.
Rationale and Official Position
OPM argues the massive dataset is essential to uncover fraud and overpayments in the FEHB and PSHB programs, which together cost roughly $80 billion a year ($50 billion federal, $30 billion enrollee-funded). General Counsel Kurt Dykstra said the detailed records can reveal “potential anomalies in usage patterns” that may involve providers, clinics, or individual enrollees, and that suspicious cases could be forwarded to the Office of the Inspector General for further investigation. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Privacy Concerns and Criticism
Joseph Lorenzo Hall, a technologist with the Center for Democracy & Technology, said “the richer the data, the more likely it is going to be identifying,” because rare medical conditions can pinpoint a person even after pseudonymization.
Data Scope and Costs
The OPM plan targets roughly 8 million federal employees, retirees and family members. The FEHB and PSHB programs together represent an $80 billion annual expenditure, split between $50 billion funded by the federal government and $30 billion by enrollees.
Verbatim Quotes
- “The described process arguably comes down to trusting internal controls in OPM to ensure that data is walled off as proposed,” — Matt Fisher, a health privacy lawyer
- “The richer the data, the more likely it is going to be identifying,” — Joseph Lorenzo Hall
- “It's a big improvement over the last notice, which was very lacking in detail and explanation for why they wanted all the medical claims data and how they're going to protect the privacy of the data,” — John Hatton
