Are the names and addresses of government employees covered by a public group health plan public records in Florida?

Plain-English summary

Florida's Public Records Law makes government records open unless a statute exempts them. Several statutes shield the medical records of public employees enrolled in government group insurance plans. Senator Paula Dockery asked whether those statutes (sections 112.08(7) and 119.071(4)(b)) also block the release of records identifying school district employees, their dependents, and their health insurance plans. The question was sharpened by a Polk County circuit court order requiring the school district to disclose its health insurance policy along with the name, address, gender, age, title, and telephone number of covered employees and dependents.

Assistant Attorney General Lagran Saunders gave informal comments (and noted the office does not interpret HIPAA). The medical-confidentiality exemptions are real and, as the Kaune decision held, section 112.08(7) sweeps broadly to cover all medical records of employees in a group plan, not just claims paperwork. Section 119.071(4)(b) likewise exempts medical information that would identify an officer or employee, and section 760.50(5) requires employers to keep covered persons' medical condition information confidential.

But the comments drew a line. While information about a participant's medical condition is clearly protected, there is no clear statement that the protection reaches purely non-medical identifying details such as a name, address, or age. And under a bedrock rule of the Public Records Law, when it is doubtful whether a record is exempt, the exemption is construed narrowly and the doubt resolved in favor of public access. Given that uncertainty and the recent Polk County order requiring disclosure, the office suggested the Legislature clarify its intent rather than the office supplying an answer the statutes did not clearly give.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2008. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis, and Florida's public-records exemptions are frequently amended. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify the current versions of sections 112.08(7) and 119.071(4)(b) before relying on any rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What is clearly confidential?
A: The comments were firm that medical condition information of employees and dependents covered by a public group insurance plan is protected. Section 112.08(7) makes group-insurance medical and claims records confidential and exempt, section 119.071(4)(b) exempts identifying medical information, and section 760.50(5) requires employers to keep covered persons' medical status confidential.

Q: What was uncertain?
A: Whether the exemptions also cover non-medical identifying details, such as a covered employee's or dependent's name, address, age, or title. The comments found no clear statutory statement extending the protection that far.

Q: How does the "doubt resolved in favor of access" rule apply?
A: Florida construes public-records exemptions narrowly, and where it is doubtful whether a record is exempt, the doubt is resolved in favor of disclosure. That principle cut against reading the medical-records exemptions to cover non-medical identifying data.

Q: Did the AG address HIPAA?
A: No. The comments expressly declined to interpret the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, because the office does not generally interpret federal law.

Background and statutory framework

Section 119.07(1) establishes the right to inspect public records, and the medical-confidentiality statutes carve out exceptions. Section 112.08(7) makes the medical and medical-claims records of county or municipal group-insurance enrollees confidential; the Second District in News-Press Publishing Company, Inc. v. Kaune, 511 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), read that exemption to reach all medical records of employees in a group plan, not just records filed in connection with the plan. Public-school employee medical records are similarly protected under section 1012.31(3)(a)5. Section 119.071(4)(b) exempts medical information that would identify an officer or employee (releasable with written permission or by court order), and section 760.50(5) requires confidentiality of insured persons' medical condition information. The Polk County circuit court order in Chandler v. School Board of Polk County, Case No. 2008CA-004389 (Oct. 9, 2008), required disclosure of the policy and identifying details, prompting the inquiry.

Citations

Statutes

• s. 119.07(1), Fla. Stat. (public records inspection)
• s. 112.08(7), Fla. Stat. (group-insurance medical records confidential)
• s. 119.071(4)(b), Fla. Stat. (identifying employee medical information exempt)
• s. 1012.31(3)(a)5., Fla. Stat. (public-school employee medical records)
• s. 760.50(5), Fla. Stat. (confidentiality of insured medical condition information)

Cases

• News-Press Publishing Company, Inc. v. Kaune, 511 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987) (broad reading of s. 112.08(7))
• Chandler v. School Board of Polk County, Case No. 2008CA-004389 (Fla. 10th Cir. Ct. Oct. 9, 2008) (order requiring disclosure)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/records-identifying-participants-in-health-insur-plan
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1801

Original opinion text

The Honorable Paula Dockery

Senator, District 15

Post Office Box 2395

Lakeland, Florida 33806-2395

Dear Senator Dockery:

You have asked whether sections 112.08(7) and 119.071(4)(b), Florida Statutes, preclude the release of information that identifies school district employees, their dependents, and their health insurance plans. The issue arises in light of a recent circuit court order requiring the Polk County School District to disclose public records regarding the health insurance policy of the Polk County School District and the name, addresses, gender, age, title, and telephone number of employees and dependents covered by the policy.[1] There is also concern that the release of such information may be inconsistent with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The following discussion will not comment on the application of HIPAA to this matter, however, as this office does not generally interpret federal law.

Section 112.08(7), Florida Statutes, provides that all medical records and medical claims records of current or former county or municipal employees and eligible dependents enrolled in a county or municipal group insurance plan are confidential and exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes. Such records may not be furnished to any person other than the employee or his legal representative, except as authorized in the subsection. Public school system employee medical records are also recognized as confidential and exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes.[2]

In News-Press Publishing Company, Inc. v. Kaune,[3] the court reviewed whether certain medical physical examination reports and related documents pertaining to a city’s firefighters were public records subject to disclosure. The court was primarily concerned with the applicability of the Public Records Law to personnel matters. However, the court also considered the extent of confidentiality provided by section 112.08(7) and (8), Florida Statutes. In Kaune, the newspaper had asked to inspect medical physical examination reports and related documents on city firefighters. These records were requested of the Fort Myers Fire Chief, the doctor who had done examinations of the firefighters, and the City of Fort Myers. The appellant, News-Press, argued that "the exemptions of section 112.08(7) . . . apply solely to medical records filed in conjunction with an employee's participation in a group insurance plan." However, the court determined that the Legislature intended the exemption to extend to all medical records relating to employees enrolled in a group insurance plan. Thus, according to the Kaune court, the exemption in section 112.08(7), Florida Statutes, applies broadly rather than being related solely to medical records filed in conjunction with an employee's participation in a group insurance plan.[4]

Section 119.071(4)(b), Florida Statutes, exempts from disclosure medical information pertaining to a prospective, current, or former officer or employee of an agency which, if disclosed, would identify that officer or employee. Such information may be disclosed if the person or the person's legal representative provides written permission or pursuant to court order.[5] Moreover, every employer who provides or administers health insurance benefits or life insurance benefits to its employees shall maintain the confidentiality of information relating to the medical condition or status of any person covered by such insurance benefits. Such information is exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida Statutes.[6]

Clearly, information relating to an insurance program participant’s medical condition is protected from disclosure. However, there is no clear statement that such protection extends to the name, address, age, or other non-medical information of such participants. When doubt exists as to whether a particular document is exempt from disclosure under Florida’s Public Records Law, the exemption is to be narrowly construed and any doubt resolved in favor of public access.[7]

Due to the lack of clarity in this matter and in light of the recent decision by the Polk County Circuit Court, it may be advisable for the Legislature to clarify its intent on this issue.

Sincerely,

Lagran Saunders

Assistant Attorney General

ALS/tsh

[1] Chandler v. School Board of Polk County, Case No. 2008CA-004389, Tenth Judicial Circuit in and for Polk County, Order Granting Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment, The Honorable Roger A. Alcott, Circuit Judge, October 9, 2008.

[2] Section 1012.31(3)(a)5., Fla. Stat.

[3] 511 So. 2d 1023 (Fla. 2nd DCA 1987).

[4] See also Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 91-88 (1991), citing to Kaune and Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 94-78 (1994) (monthly printout of medical claims paid under city group health insurance plan that identifies the public employees who obtained medical services and the amounts of the claims, together with some account information, is exempt from public inspection); and Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 94-51 (1994) (agency "should be vigilant in its protection of the confidentiality provided by statute for medical records of [its] employees").

[5] Section 119.071(4)(b), Fla. Stat. See also Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 98-17 (1998) (exemption "appears to extend to governmental employees the protection for personal medical records that is generally enjoyed by private sector employees").

[6] Section 760.50(5), Fla. Stat.

[7] See, e.g., Ops. Att'y Gen. Fla. 79-75 (1979), emphasizing the resolution of doubt in favor of disclosure, and 80-78 (1980).