Trump officials float plan for Americans to share their medical data more freely

The Trump administration and the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced plans to begin building a new digital health information system, in collaboration with a growing list of private-sector companies. Dubbed the CMS Digital Health Ecosystem, the new program aims to make it easier for patients to access their own medical records and health data.

In a press release announcing the plan, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claimed "bureaucrats and entrenched interests" have for decades blocked access to medical data. The CMS was more reserved in its assessment, saying the problem was more rooted in "outdated infrastructure and disconnected data."

Government and private companies both have a bad track record for respecting privacy

For now, the CMS's initiative is still in its nascent stages. But the long-term goal is to enable a range of apps that will allow individual patients ...