 
April 10, 2003
HIPAA COUNTDOWN UPDATE:
Congressman introduces bill to overturn privacy regs!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Four days until HIPAA privacy
regulations take effect. 2. Congressman Ron Paul, MD, an AAPS
member, introduces bill to overturn the regs & eliminate patient
ID 3. “Miranda Ad” news release prompts more
than 20 news interviews. 4. Still time to help run an
ad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACT TODAY - WE NEED TO
RAISE $20,000 BY THIS THURSDAY ! We
are pulling out the stops to delay or thwart implementation of the so-called
HIPAA “privacy regulations on Monday, April 14. Once again, lifetime AAPS member,
Congressman Ron Paul, MD, who has been doing yeoman’s work on this issue, has
come through. On
Thursday, April 10, Dr. Paul introduced a new bill in Congress to overturn the
privacy regulations and permanently abolish the national patient id. Called the “Patient Privacy Act,” Dr.
Paul introduced bill number HR 1699 with these words on the floor of the
House: “Mr. Speaker,
I rise to introduce the Patient Privacy Act. This bill repeals the misnamed
Medical Privacy regulation, which goes into effect on April 14 and actually
destroys individual medical privacy. The Patient Privacy Act also repeals those
sections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
authorizing the establishment of a ``standard unique health care identifier''
for all Americans, as well as prohibiting the use of federal funds to develop or
implement a database containing personal health information.
“Both of these
threats to medical freedom grew out of the Clinton-era craze to nationalize as
much of health care as politically possible. “Establishment
of a uniform medical identifier would allow federal bureaucrats to track every
citizen's medical history from cradle to grave. Furthermore, as explained in
more detail below, it is possible that every medical professional, hospital, and
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in the country would be able to access an
individual citizens' record simply by entering the patient's identifier into a
health care database. “The dangers
to liberty inherent in the "uniform health identifier" are magnified by the
so-called "medical privacy" regulation. “Many things in
“…The
so-called ``medical privacy'' regulations and uniform health identifier scheme
not only reduce individuals' ability to determine who has access to their
personal medical information, but actually threaten medical privacy and
constitutionally-protected liberties. For example, these regulations allow law
enforcement and other government officials' access to a citizen's private
medical record without having to obtain a search
warrant…” Read the entire text of Dr. Paul’s
statement. PATIENT “MIRANDA
WARNING” ADS – Generating News Coverage As we announced in our
email earlier this week, AAPS has begun running the “Miranda Warning” ad
attached and pasted below to alert patients to the devastating effects these
regulations will have on their privacy, and the ways in which their doctor will
be forced to handle their medical records. A news release today
generated more than 20 interviews today, including one with a newspaper reporter
who had already written his story for the Sunday edition. He said it was the first he had seen of
any problems with the rules, and was glad to talk to us to prevent his
inaccurate story. Newspapers and
television stations from AD PLACEMENT – HELP
STILL NEEDED Our thanks go to those
who have already contributed to the AAPS educational fund to help pay for the
“Miranda” ads. For example, Dr.
Robert McQueeney and his colleagues are sponsoring an ad in their hometown of
We have reserved space
in USA Today for Monday under the assumption that we can raise the $20,000 we
need to pay for it. But we still
need more than $10,000.
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE
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