Your employer ordered you to tell them about your wife having cancer. How would you respond?

School employees in the Southwest Michigan community of Lawton recently were faced with that question. Based on requirements put in place by last fall's ill-conceived Senate Bill 418 (which, among other things, requires schools to get competitive bids for health insurance), these employees were ordered to complete an extensive survey about their and their family's health history.

In the fall, MEA warned the Legislature about threats to medical privacy that this bill would cause. Today in a press release, MEA government affairs director Ed Sarpolus said, "This law disregards how private medical information can be misused. Nobody should have to disclose this kind of information to their employer. Anyone who values medical privacy should be concerned."

Among other things, the Lawton employees were asked if they or their dependents had been treated during the past 10 years for such ailments as cancer, HIV or AIDS, allergies or multiple sclerosis. Employees were also asked whether they or their dependents suffered from anxiety, depression, autism or eating disorders, and to list the medications they had been prescribed over the previous year. The employees' names were tied to the answers.

Check out the press release to learn more about this threat to medical privacy that no Michigan citizen should endure.