New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has signed a law requiring health insurance carriers — payers, health service corporation, hospital service corporation, medical service corporation or health maintenance organizations that issue health benefit plans in New Jersey — to encrypt sensitive patient data.
According to the legislation, "A health insurance carrier shall not compile or maintain computerized records that include personal information, unless that information is secured by encryption or by any other method or technology rendering the information unreadable, undecipherable or otherwise unusable by an unauthorized person."
The legislation defines personal information as individuals' first or last names linked with at least one of the following: Social Security number, driver's license number, state identification card, address or identifiable health information.
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