Esc. County Resp Chandler.111308[1]

The School Board of Escambia County 215 West Garden Street Pensacola, Florida 32502 Telephone: (850) 469-6155 / Facsimile (850) 469-6273 Jeff Bergosh District 1

Patricia Hightower, Chair District 4

Gerald Boone District 2

Pete Gindl, Sr., Vice Chair District 5

Claudia Brown-Curry District 3

Donna Sessions Waters General Counsel

November 17, 2008 Mr. Joel E. Chandler 1355 Forest Park Street Lakeland, Florida 33803 Re: Your Public Records Request (health insurance and covered employees and dependent information) Dear Mr. Chandler: Jim Paul, Escambia County Superintendent of Schools, has asked me to respond to your request for health insurance records maintained by the School Board of Escambia County. The current policies and agreements under which School Board employees receive health insurance coverage through the District's self-insurance plan are available online at http://old.escambia.k12.fl.us/adminoff/riskmgt/. With respect to your request for "all non-exempt information ... for all persons covered under any health insurance plans provided by the Escambia County School Board, including dependents," please be advised that the requested records are not maintained in the format or manner requested. Relevant District records include both exempt (social security numbers, etc.) and potentially non-exempt data. Moreover, many District personnel and dependents, and retirees receiving coverage from the District, are among those for whom specific data are exempt under Section 119.071(4)(d), Florida Statutes, and other provisions. For these reasons, the location and retrieval of the large quantity of information requested will involve extensive supervisory, clerical and information technology resources by District personnel. District staff have estimated that these costs will come to approximately $2,500.00. As provided in Section 119.071(4)(d), Florida Statutes, you will be required to deposit this amount prior to the District commencing the effort to extract, eliminate specifically exempt data, and retrieve the requested information if and to the extent not otherwise exempt as discussed below.

The School Board continues to review the question of whether health plan enrollment information for its employees constitutes "protected health information" as defined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. 1. No. 104-191 ("HIPAA"), and its regulations. Your request for data concerning "covered persons" constitutes a request for health plan enrollment information, which in turn appears to be "individually identifiable health information" because it (i) is received or created by a health plan, (ii) identifies an individual, and (iii) relates to the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual. I will advise you concerning the Board's conclusion on the applicability of HIPAA to the requested information upon your making a deposit for location, retrieval and redaction of the requested material. Should the final result in this matter be that the District is, in fact, a covered entity under HIPAA and that the information cannot be released due to HIPAA Privacy Rules, your deposit will, of course, be returned. Please advise if you have any questions in the interim. Yours truly,

Donna Sessions Waters cc:

School Board Members Jim Paul, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas, Superintendent-elect Norm Ross, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Alan Scott, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resource Services Kevin Windham, Director of Risk Management Ronnie Arnold, Associate Superintendent - Public & Interagency Affairs