Your health privacy

[Guest guest]

I'm a member of the Libertarian Party and receive their periodic news

emails. This one caught my attention as worthy of forwarding to this mailing

list.

By the way I am no longer subscribed to the other mailing lists (AAR and

REJ). If you know anyone who would like to subscribe to this list, please

ask them to send a blank email to longevity-subscribeegroups

-gts

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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY

2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100

Washington DC 20037

World Wide Web: www.LP.org

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For release: December 9, 1999

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For additional information:

Getz, Press Secretary

Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222

E-Mail: 76214.3676@...

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Your medical privacy is under attack

by politicians' Unique Health Identifier

WASHINGTON, DC -- There's less than a month left to block a

federal regulation that will permit thousands of businesses and

government agencies -- including banks, the FBI, and even the

Environmental Protection Agency -- to examine your private medical

records without your consent, the Libertarian Party warned today.

And equally ominous: The same regulation will mandate that each

American get a " Unique Health Identifier " -- a Social Security

Number-style identifier from the government that will follow you

throughout your life and be permanently attached to all your medical

records.

" If these proposals are enacted, you might as well post your

health history on the Internet, because nearly anyone who wants that

information will have access to it, " said Steve Dasbach, national

director of the Libertarian Party. " These proposals are a devious

attempt by the government to diminish your medical privacy -- while

claiming to protect it. "

The new rules were unveiled by the U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services (HHS) in the Federal Register last month. The

Clinton Administration claimed the proposals would " safeguard "

Americans' medical privacy by making health-care companies responsible

for any privacy lapses or violations.

But the real result will be to throw your private records wide

open to dozens of government departments, for-profit businesses, and

law enforcement agencies, said Dasbach -- while stripping individuals

of their right to file lawsuits to protect their medical privacy.

" The government claims these rules are designed to protect

you, " he said. " But trusting politicians to protect your medical

privacy is like hiring Bill Clinton as night watchman at a girls'

dormitory. The only way to protect your health records is to make sure

the government doesn't have them. "

And because of the mandatory " Unique Health Identifier "

provision, accessing health records could become " just as easy and

convenient as accessing your credit history is now, " he warned.

" The list of people who could read your medical records is like

a Who's Who of people you don't want to see them, " said Dasbach.

Included on the list: Banks, state insurance commissions, the

Department of Justice, the FBI, criminal defense attorneys, federal

welfare agencies, the Health and Human Services' Office of Civil

Rights, the Social Security Administration, the Department of

Education, OSHA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Is there anyone who wouldn't have access to your medical

records?

" Yes -- you! " said Dasbach. " The regulation doesn't guarantee

that individuals can access their own medical records in all

circumstances. Plus, there is no statutory authority for you to take

action if your medical privacy is breached. The government apparently

believes that federal bureaucrats and police have a greater right to

your medical records than you do. "

But the prognosis isn't all bad, said Dasbach: There may still

be time to stop the proposal.

" We have a few weeks left to try to protect medical privacy, "

he said. " The Libertarian Party is working with other groups to stop

this medical spy scheme before it starts -- by encouraging Americans to

inundate the HHS with comments, and demand that politicians back down

from this malignant proposal. "

The HHS is accepting public comments until January 3, 2000. If

the proposal isn't terminated by then, it will go into effect in

February 2000.

" When it comes to medical privacy, the government is the

disease, " said Dasbach. " Stopping this proposal is one way we can keep

our medical privacy -- and liberty -- a little bit healthier. "

To comment via e-mail, visit the special " Medical Privacy " link

on the Libertarian Party's website: www.LP.org.

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