LOOP HOLE TO FIND YOU B_PARENTS What do you think?

Question

I never thought about it, but i guess it's true...

apparently when a child has medicaid and gets adpted, their ID number always stays the same. that number can be used to look up medical records (if you know someone in a hospital network or in the mediaid field). those could include birth records and the prarents health declarations at the time of birth.

You would of course need to know the medicaid ID number which i'm sure you can get from the department of health and human services in your area.

have you heard this?

Answer 1

i have never heard of this and am thankful for the info! thank you!

Answer 2

I would be cautious trying to get info this way. Getting your hopes up and then stomped on would be brutal. My son was adopted as a preschooler and I know that his health care number stayed the same but all record of me was taken off of it. He is still able to access what is his info but his birth and anything to do directly with me are gone.

Answer 3

No, I've never heard of this but thanks for pointing this out!

Answer 4

This is not always the case please read this:

State computer problems

System revealing adoption secrets

Children using Medicaid cards surprised by sealed details

Sunday,  December 16, 2007 3:36 AM

By Catherine Candisky and Rita Price

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Top News Stories



The nurse opened the door to a hospital waiting room and called the next patient.

The young girl sitting next to her mother froze, stunned by the name she heard.

She recognized it, but it wasn't hers -- at least it hadn't been since she was adopted eight years earlier.

Somehow, after all those years, the girl's pre-adoption records -- supposedly sealed -- had popped up on the nurse's computer.

"She was shocked," said Julie Rich, the girl's mother. "It was awful."

It didn't stop there. When the girl was registering at a hospital last week, a bracelet with her birth mother's name was placed on her wrist.

"My daughter had to explain, 'That's not my name. I'm adopted,' " said Rich, of Columbus. "There is no excuse. She should never have to tell that. She should tell that to people she chooses, and it should never come up unless she chooses."

Ohio's troubled child-welfare computer system is to blame.

Counties outside of Franklin have reported similar incidents, but the state has not yet determined how many children are affected. It could be thousands.

State officials say the problem involves children adopted out of the foster-care system.

Specifically, it involves those enrolled in the children's health insurance program in 35 Ohio counties issuing Medicaid cards through the new Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System, said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

In the case of Rich's daughter, when medical personnel used the number on her Medicaid card to look up her health records, the system spit out her birth mother's name and other information from her sealed adoption record.

The data are supposed to be secret, Evans said. The agency is working to pinpoint the problem.

Advocates say the breach raises concerns about the disclosure of adoption information and integrity of medical records.

"It's a big violation of confidentiality," said Crystal Ward Allen, executive director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. "Another concern is making sure medical records are retained together and (the children) have access to care."

Eric Fenner, executive director of Franklin County Children Services, wonders whether the state snafu could cause a personal or family crisis by spitting up confidential adoption information. Not all children, he noted, know they are adopted.

"This is disastrous," Fenner said. "I can't think of a worse way for a child to find out they're adopted. How would you deal with that?"

Rich said her daughter worried that her birth mother would find her.

"I kept saying, 'Don't worry, I'll get it straightened out,' but it's a lot to deal with, especially when you're sick," she said.

In addition to the emotional toll, her daughter's doctor had trouble finding her medical records because they were suddenly under her biological mother's name, Rich said.

Directors of child-welfare agencies reported months ago that a related state computer system seemed to be malfunctioning when issuing adoption-assistance checks. That money helps families that adopt through the foster-care system.

In some counties, checks were merely late. In other cases, the stipends were mailed to people whose children were grown and no longer should have been in the system. In at least one case, a check went to a dead person.

Complaints from county officials about the $92 million system prompted the state last month to postpone further implementation until persistent glitches and crashes were worked out. By then, 65 counties had linked to the new system. Of them, 35, including Franklin County, are using the system to issue Medicaid cards.

Denise St. Clair, executive director of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Capital University, said that she and other adoption experts know the state has struggled with the system.

They're also concerned about the potential for disclosure of private adoption information.

"Obviously, when information like this is being inadvertently spit out by a computer, it is problematic," she said.

Under Ohio law, adoption records are always sealed to third parties.

Records of adoptions before 1964 are open to the adopted person with proper identification. Those finalized between 1964 and Sept. 18, 1996, are sealed and can be opened only with a court order. Those finalized after Sept. 18, 1996, are open only if the adopted person is between 18 and 21 years old.

While St. Clair agreed that in many adoptions from foster care the child is aware of the situation, that isn't always the case. And with children, parents often find it best to approach the topic slowly.

"Certainly it's not something you want a child to discover accidentally," she said. "Many give the information a little bit at a time, until the child can understand. It's just a very personal choice of when and how and if that is communicated to children."

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

"Certainly it's not something you want a child to discover accidentally."

Denise St. Clair

adoption expert

-----------------

As you can see this was a glitch in the "system" I don't know if this is possible in every state, and certainly if they realize it does they will close this loophole. Also the mother and infant may not have been on Title 19 (Medicaid) so this would not be sure thing by any means.

I wish you luck in trying to get your information this way, but would warn you it probably will not work. I am truly sorry about that.. Wish I could tell you that yes this would work for everyone but I have a sneaking suspscion that it does not.

Answer 5

I absolutely HATE being a spoiler here - but feel it's important before everyone gets their hopes up - that this information does sometimes change.  We actually had our son's identifying information changed because we had heard that his bio parents sold or gave his Social Security Number to others for the purpose of identity theft.  The only way we could protect our son was to have all of his numbers changed.  When his SSN changed, so did his medical assistance numbers.  

I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news on this one, but I thought it was important to let people know.

Answer 6

Hi Florida Gal,

My opinion is that it's sad that people have to resort to things such as finding out their original identity through medicaid.  

If there was more honesty in adoption then people might not be so desperate to find their origins any way they can, including this route.

I do think medical records should be available if they pertain to the individual, regardless of what name they were using at the time.  Personally, I do not believe that what names an individual has had in their lifetimes should be a secret from that individual.  I don't believe it should be the adoptive parent's option, nor the government's, to withhold that information from a person for whatever reason.

Thanks for asking.  Haven't seen this one brought up yet.

julie j

reunited adoptee