Tossing medical privacy out the window

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>

> Why is Clinton (and a republican congress) being blamed for this.

He wanted medical privacy. It's that the insurance companies are

trying to get into the medical records... they say for reasons of

efficiency. ... <

Well... have you heard " the rest of the story " ?

from:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22439

Tossing medical privacy out the window

By A. Faria Jr., M.D.

Monday, April 16, 2001

© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com

Americans lost a bit more of their right to privacy last

week -- and a little more of the freedom that goes along

with it.

On April 12, the Department of Health and Human Services

announced that it will be implementing the so-called

medical privacy regulations which were written and

hurriedly submitted in the closing days of the Clinton

administration.

The initial date for implementation of the " regulations "

had been set for Feb. 26, 2001, but it had to be

postponed because of a groundswell of opposition that

developed as a result of a Feb. 22 press release issued

by the ASSOCIATION of AMERICAN PHYSICIANS and SURGEONS

(http://AAPSOnline.org/).

The AAPS press release pointed out that even though

problems existed with specific provisions in the

regulations, the bottom line was that the regulations

were so egregious that they should be discarded.

The regulations, ballyhooed as protecting privacy and

medical record confidentiality, actually would

compromise the privacy of unwary citizens.

Among other things, the " regulations " create a behemoth

federal bureaucracy, which has been estimated to cost

anywhere from $18 billion over 10 years to a much more

frightening estimate of $40 billion over five years.

The regulations require doctors to share patient records

with the federal government -- without patient consent.

The government, not patients, will decide who has access

to their medical records. This is the proverbial fox

guarding the hen house.

The regulations, in fact, give the federal government

unfettered access to medical records but limit the

patients' access to them, state laws notwithstanding.

With these regulations in place, HHS can disclose

personal medical information, if required by any other

law; yet other laws are not pre-empted by the privacy

rule.

Now, privacy has been turned on its head. Orwellian

doublespeak has been put to good use by officials in the

Bush administration, including the president himself,

and the establishment media to defend " the medical

privacy regulations " and for the government to

" safeguard " the confidentiality of medical records.

The fact is that HHS Secretary Tommy had

earlier postponed these Clintonian regulations because

he was alerted by AAPS that those " regulations " could

create the groundwork for a national database of patient

records and would assign all Americans a unique health

identifier. Rep. Ron , R-Texas, also took notice

and introduced " emergency legislation directed to block

implementation of the dangerous new medical

regulations. "

It's incredible that President Bush overruled Secretary

in ordering HHS to move ahead with these

dangerous regulations, which could have been issued by

Orwell's " Ministry of Truth. "

Serkes, AAPS public relations counsel, stated

that AAPS made it clear to the Bush administration that

these regulations are " masquerading as medical privacy

protection but in reality were written by the Clinton

administration to fulfill the 'administrative

simplification' section of the Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. "

Moreover, AAPS also made it clear that " administrative

simplification " is a euphemism for government control of

patient medical records, which was part of the design of

Hillary Clinton's Health Care Task Force and President

Bill Clinton's plan to further socialize American

medicine.

It is no wonder that the mainstream media, including

The Washington Post, are defending the " regulations " as

" federal protection. " They are even praising President

Bush on this one. That in itself should make us all

wonder.

They have, as usual, sided with the fox, and placed all

of us, that is, citizens who value privacy, in the

chicken coop without an exit.

Yet, American citizens mailed over 20,000 written

comments directly to HHS and put over 40,000 signatures

in at least two petitions (e.g., the Liberty Committee

and NewsMax.com) expressing serious concern over the

" regulations. " A Gallup survey sponsored by the

Institute for Health Freedom also revealed that the

overwhelming majority of Americans do not want third

parties -- including the government -- to have

unfettered access to their personal medical records.

http://www.ForHealthFreedom.org/

The bad guys, according to the Washington Post, are the

entities (presumably doctors and hospitals) in the

" health care industry, " which is portrayed as a

monolithic structure opposing privacy as inconvenient

and expensive. The reality is more complex.

Many in the " health care industry " oppose the

" regulations " because they will cost billions to

implement, while empowering government at the expense

of the public's medical privacy. In this topsy-turvy,

spin scenario, government officials are portrayed as the

good guys acting in the best interest of the public.

Privacy, again, has been turned completely on its head.

President Bush has now ordered that all 1,500 pages of

" regulations " should proceed to " protect " privacy,

although revisions will be made in their implementation.

Americans must be very vigilant about what these

revisions will entail. Dr. Jane Orient, AAPS executive

director, has called the present rules " anti-privacy. "

All President Bush is doing is " following the policy of

his predecessor, a policy that would, in fact, abolish

privacy, " Orient said.

Our medical privacy hangs in the balance. Don't expect

the television anchors of the three major networks, CBS,

NBC and ABC, or CNN to keep you informed. While this

battle raged through February, March and the first part

of April, apparently in complicity with statist

government officials, they refused to alert the American

people.

The final battle, with or without the establishment's

media task of informing the public, has not yet been

lost.

It is up to American citizens now to wake up from their

slumber and say something, before they wake up one day

to find themselves naked and shivering in front of Big

Brother.

-------

A. Faria Jr., M.D., is editor in chief of the

Medical Sentinel of the Association of American

Physicians and Surgeons (http://AAPSOnline.org/)

and author of " Vandals at the Gates of Medicine " (1995)

and " Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized

Medicine " (1997) -- http://HaciendaPub.com/books.html

© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.