In today’s news and commentary, the Office of Personnel Management seeks the medical records of millions of federal workers, and ProPublica journalists engage in a one-day strike.

Earlier this week, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published notice of a proposal to vastly increase its collection of medical records for eight million federal workers, retirees, and their families. The proposal would require 65 insurance companies to submit monthly reports containing the personally identifiable medical information of affected workers to OPM. In the notice, OPM justified the rule as an effort to “oversee health benefits programs and ensure they provide competitive, quality, and affordable plans.” The federal agency’s proposed action faces significant pushback from insurance companies, who argue that providing personally identifiable medical information to the agency would potentially violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Kari Parsons, Chair of the Association of Federal Health Organizations, argued that HIPAA only required insurance companies “to furnish ‘reasonable reports’ OPM determines to be necessary… not to furnish the individual claims data of every individual.”
Also this week, journalists at ProPublica engaged in a one-day strike after more than two years of contract negotiations. Over 100 reporters, copy editors, and communications staff, represented by the Communications Workers of America’s News Guild (CWA-TNG), engaged in the action to protest the company’s refusal to bargain over wage increases and layoff protections. Importantly, the workers also cited the use of artificial intelligence as a sticking point in negotiations. ProPublica has so far rejected any restrictions on replacing jobs with AI, a position that Mark Olalde, a member of the union’s bargaining committee, described as “head-scratching.” J. David McSwaine, a reporter and union member, argued that members of the union “do really deep, nuanced work. It requires skill and expertise… we want to make sure that those humans who have dedicated themselves to the craft are behi