Model Resolutions

RE: Repeal of HIPAA "Privacy" Regulations

Submitted By Pima County Medical Society

WHEREAS: Keeping patient records confidential is an ethical duty of all physicians; and

WHEREAS: Patient care is compromised if patients withhold information due to fear that confidentiality may be breached; and

WHEREAS: It is technically impossible to guarantee the confidentiality of information once it is entered into a networked electronic data base, as shown by frequent incursions even into the most secure Department of Defense computer systems; and

WHEREAS: The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated"; and

WHEREAS: Law enforcement agencies engaged in the prosecution of crimes have adequate lawful means to obtain necessary information through search warrants and court orders; and

WHEREAS: The American people strenuously object to the assignment of a unique health identification number and to unconsented access to their private medical records by government agencies and their designees; and

WHEREAS: The Clinton-Shalala regulations issued pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 effectively force patients to have their private medical records entered into government data bases as a condition of obtaining medical care; and

WHEREAS: The said regulations impose intolerable burdens on physicians and insurers while actually compromising privacy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED: The Arizona Medical Association, through its AMA Delegation, demand that AMA (1) aggressively advocate in Congress to repeal the HIPAA "privacy" regulations under the Congressional Review Act; (2) urge the President to sign such an Act of Congress; (3) strongly and firmly inform the President that the regulations, as they currently exist, are totally unacceptable without fundamental change.