Utah House passes bill removing Social Security numbers from health insurance cards

The Utah House of Representatives passed HB 181 on Jan. 22, 2003, a bill that prohibits health insurers and their subcontractors from displaying Social Security numbers on health insurance cards while permitting internal use of those numbers as identifiers. The measure passed the House 66–1 and will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.

Supporters said the bill protects consumers’ personal information. Representative Donaldson, sponsor of the bill, told colleagues the intent is to “help us better protect our own identities” by removing Social Security numbers from cards that people routinely carry. Donaldson reviewed federal history, noting the 1997 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) authorized a national health-care identifier that has not been implemented; he argued that retaining certain lines in the bill would clarify whether federal or state law applies if a national identifier system were ever established.

Opponents focused on a proposed amendment to delete lines 42–44 — language critics said could ease the advent of a national identifier. That amendment was put to a division vote and failed, returning the bill to the floor as originally amended. After the floor debate, the House voted and recorded 66 yes votes and 1 no vote.

The bill’s sponsor said Social Security numbers may still be used internally by insurers as identifiers but may not be printed on the cards themselves. The bill’s supporters said the change is a modest privacy protection. The House did not change the internal-use allowance in floor action; the final text as passed preserves internal identifier use but prohibits external display.

The next step is consideration by the Utah Senate. No Senate action appears in the House transcript.