He was just going through some mail. One piece was from CVS Caremark. It said the name of his employer on it. It had a list of every prescription he's filled this year, how much it was filled for, how much his insurance paid, and how much he paid.

They were saying he could save if he switched to a 90 Rx and used CVS.

He says that his Rx card does have CVS on it. But he's always had a different pharmacy, and didn't see the point in moving stuff.

But he's livid right now. He doesn't know why CVS is keeping track of his Rxes. He doesn't know why his employer's name is on it (do they know his Rxes?). He's also angry that it went through the mail so anyone could have intercepted it. I'm pretty upset too.

I would guess that the info probably actually came from the employer. I bet they're trying to get people to switch CVS because either they'r cheaper, or CVS has offered them something.

So hubby's employer knows his medications o_O

CVS owns ExpressScripts or something like that, if his insurance uses ExpressScripts, CVS has that info.

and depending on how the insurance is set up, his employer might know every claim he makes.
I worked for a company that was self-insured. We used a big national insurance company, but because we were self insured the employer knew every claim made.

The employer would not necessarily know his medications, but may have a deal with CVS that allows them access to his prescription record. Pretty creepy, IMO.

Postal mail is considered more private than email, which can only be used for medical information if it's secure. For some insane reason, FAX is considered to be "secure" too.

I went through a similar thing with my employer. If the employer is providing the insurance benefit they can dictate to you which pharmacy they want you to use. I preferred a local pharmacy, but they forced me to go to Medco mail order prescriptions on a 90 day basis. They sent a nasty letter saying if I continued to use the "retail" pharmacy for long term prescriptions that I would pay a lot more for them. I got nagging calls from Medco also until I gave in and switched. In the long run it has saved me some money and I'm happy with it. I can still use a local pharmacy for short term medications such as antibiotics. Believe me, your employer knows all about your health history.

I'm sticking with my theory. If the letter was from CVS, the employer/insurance company would be breaking HIPAA law to give them the info; but if prescription coverage is through ExpressScripts, CVS already has it.