US Congress To Gut State Medical Privacy Laws?
Main Category: Public HealthArticle Date: 11 Feb 2006 - 23:00 PDT
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Saint Paul, Minnesota--Congress has latched onto legislation to create a national health information system: the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005 (HR 4157). However, Citizens' Council on Health Care (CCHC) says the legislation- and the plan- is not the good idea it's portrayed to be.
CCHC has published a chart, including analysis of the bill language and implications for the public if HR 4157 passes, click here to see it.
"This bill gives the federal government complete control over private medical data. It advances a national health surveillance system - a system where the patient's data is shared, assessed, analyzed, collected, and used without the patient's consent or knowledge," said Twila Brase, president of CCHC.
She clarified, "If this bill passes, there will be no virtually no escape for the public. The so-called federal medical privacy rule (HIPAA) eliminated patient consent requirements. This bill allows the federal government to gut stronger state privacy laws. Together they will lead to the end of personal and medical privacy for all American citizens."
"This legislation is not supported by citizens," argued Brase. "It's not supported by patients. No doubt, the only ones who will support it are those who want free and easy access to patient data-without any worry about being sued."
Brase said the bill will:
-- gut strong state medical privacy laws.
-- lead to national patient tracking and identification numbers.
-- build an intrusive and expensive federal bureaucracy.
-- impede frank communication between patients and doctors.
-- leave no patient behind.
To read the bill, search bill text under "HR4157" at http://thomas.loc.gov
Citizens' Council on Health Care is a non-profit, independent health care policy organization that supports free-market ideas in health care.
Citizens' Council on Health Care
1954 University Ave. W, Ste. 8
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-646-8935 ph
651-646-0100 fx
http://www.cchconline.org
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (2)
HIPAA compliant by default
posted by Darrell K. Pruitt DDS on 13 Feb 2006 at 1:12 amI am a dentist with a fairly small general practice in Fort Worth, Texas. Last week, after reading about my government's betrayal of patients' trust; and after realizing that the current administration has quietly trampled the 1st, 4th and 5th amendments to the Constitution through their changes in HIPAA, I proudly and defiantly added a new selling point to my webpage on doctoroogle.com. which I hope will, in a small way, help to make the HHS reconsider their senseless and expensive demands on dentistry. I now advertise, "I am HIPAA compliant by default. This means that personal and medical information is never sent over the internet from my office. We respect your trust in us to keep your secrets away from hackers and others who might intrude on your life."
I understand that there are only 4% of dentists in the US who still do not file insurance electronically. I am part of that 4%. Since I do not have to pay compliance fees, nor waste significant amounts of productive time to remain in active compliance, I am saving my patients a meaningful amount of money. My patients can then spend their savings as they wish. (Was not this one of Bush’s goals at one time?) But more importantly, I am protecting my patients from significant harm their own bumbling federal government can cause them. It is pretty clear to me that the lobbyists for insurance and banking concerns (to name only a few) have been effective with their influence in Washington.
Darrell Pruitt DDS
Hipaa
posted by Karen Walter on 4 Apr 2009 at 10:00 pmHIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) is a federal law that protects health information. Federal standards are now in place that ensure patients have access to their own medical records while adding new responsibilities to those charged with protecting this information.
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Karen Walter
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