[Apologetics] Senate health care bill: the five paragraphs you must read

[Art Kelly]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091123/cm_csm/yblevins

Senate health care bill: the five paragraphs you must read

By Sue Blevins and Robin Kaigh 
 
Mon Nov 23, 4:00 am ET - "There is no such thing as a little freedom,"
said Walter Cronkite. "Either you are all free, or you are not free."

Whether you're for or against federal efforts to help people buy health
insurance, you should know that the reform bill before the Senate would
mandate a healthcare system that is definitely "not free."

What most of us know about the Democratic bill is that it requires
nearly all Americans to have health insurance. What most of us don't
know is that it requires us to buy a minimum level of insurance approved
by the federal government, and forces health plans and providers to
share our personal health information with the federal government and
other entities.

If this bill becomes law, we could each be assigned a national
beneficiary ID number or card (possibly an electronic device). And our
personal health information will flow electronically to the US secretary
of Health and Human Services (HHS) - and many others - without our
consent.

Sound farfetched? Buried in the Senate bill's 2,074 pages are provisions
that actually permit and foster such things. Freedom and privacy are
often lost in the fine print - which is why we've been studying the
Senate bill since it was released Nov. 19 to help uncover the facts.
Here are five highly invasive provisions Americans should know:

1. Mandatory insurance
Bill text: "Sec. 1501. Requirement to Maintain Minimum Essential
Coverage.... An applicable individual shall for each month beginning
after 2013 ensure that the individual, and any dependent of the
individual who is an applicable individual, is covered under minimum
essential coverage for such month."

Translation: Uncle Sam will now serve as your national insurance agent
and force you to buy "minimum essential coverage" - or else you'll have
to pay an annual fine.

However, what Congress considers "minimum essential coverage" and
"essential health benefits requirements" includes comprehensive coverage
that many neither need nor want. Plus, those who prefer to carry
catastrophic-only coverage won't have a free range of options for such
coverage.

Bottom line: In a free society, the government should not force citizens
to buy any product nor should the government mandate citizens' level of
health-insurance coverage.

Rather than imposing penalties to coerce people into
government-sanctioned health insurance, Congress should offer incentives
to help those who wish to buy insurance but find it unaffordable.

Congress could allow everyone to deduct the full cost of health
insurance (and provide tax credits for those with no tax liability),
while offering assistance to those who can't afford insurance and
subsidize high-risk pools for those with preexisting conditions.

Helping those in need is a much better way to reform our nation's
healthcare system than overhauling the entire system and putting Big
Brother in charge of deciding what is acceptable coverage for nearly
every American.

2. Electronic data exchanges
Bill text: "Sec. 1104. Administrative Simplification.... (h) Compliance.
- (1) Health Plan Certification. - (A) Eligibility for a Health Plan,
Health Claim Status, Electronic Funds Transfers, Health Care Payment and
Remittance Advice. - Not later than December 31, 2013, a health plan
shall file a statement with the Secretary, in such form as the Secretary
may require, certifying that the data and information systems for such
plan are in compliance with any applicable standards (as described under
paragraph (7) of section 1171) and associated operating rules (as
described under paragraph (9) of such section) for electronic funds
transfers, eligibility for a health plan, health claim status, and
health care payment and remittance advice, respectively."

Translation: Requiring everyone to buy federally sanctioned health
insurance, and then forcing qualified plans to comply with
Administrative Simplification requirements, provides the government and
health industry with power they would not be able to exercise in a free
market.

Administrative Simplification rules are a product of the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. They lay
the foundation for a nationally linked database of personal health
information. A federal "Nationwide Health Information Network" (NHIN) is
well under way in the United States, without assurances that individuals
will control their personal health data.

Bottom line: Americans should be able to contract privately with the
insurance companies of their choice. Patients should be able to decide
whether to have electronic or paper medical records, and not have the
government require electronic records, which are then included in a
nationally linked database.

3. Real-time health and financial data
Bill text: "Sec. 1104. Administrative Simplification.... (4)
Requirements for Financial and Administrative Transactions. - (A) In
General. - The standards and associated operating rules adopted by the
Secretary shall - (i) to the extent feasible and appropriate, enable
determination of an individual's eligibility and financial
responsibility for specific services prior to or at the point of
care.... (i) Eligibility for a Health Plan and Health Claims Status. -
The set of operating rules for eligibility for a health plan and health
claim status transactions shall be adopted not later than July 1, 2011,
in a manner ensuring that such operating rules are effective not later
than January 1, 2013, and may allow for the use of a machine readable
identification card."

Translation: Administrative Simplification rules are being expanded to
gather real-time financial and health data on individuals through a
tracking ID, possibly a "machine readable" ID card (electronic device). 

Bottom line: Moving forward with real-time data collection without an
ethical patient consent provision means everyone loses their
health-privacy rights. Congress needs to enact strong patient consent
provisions for all health data, especially data collected "real-time." 

4. Health data network
Bill text: "Sec. 6301. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.... (f)
Building Data for Research. - The Secretary shall provide for the
coordination of relevant Federal health programs to build data capacity
for comparative clinical effectiveness research, including the
development and use of clinical registries and health outcomes research
data networks, in order to develop and maintain a comprehensive,
interoperable data network to collect, link, and analyze data on
outcomes and effectiveness from multiple sources, including electronic
health records." 

Translation: Your personal health information may soon be studied by
government scientists. Washington is creating a new research center that
plans to use patients' electronic health records for conducting research
and creating disease registries. The data network is comprehensive and
includes use of electronic health records. 

Bottom line: Federal funds should not be used to collect data
electronically and conduct research on patients' personal health
information without their consent. 

5. Personal health information
Bill text: "Sec. 6301. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.... (B) Use of
Data. - The [Patient-Centered Outcomes Research] Institute shall only
use data provided to the Institute under subparagraph (A) in accordance
with laws and regulations governing the release and use of such data,
including applicable confidentiality and privacy standards." 

Translation: Think your health privacy is protected? It's not. This
language refers to "applicable confidentiality and privacy standards,"
but HIPAA's so-called privacy law permits individuals' personal health
information to be exchanged - for many broad purposes - without
patients' consent (See 45 CFR Subtitle A, Subpart E - Privacy of
Individually Identifiable Health Information; section 164.502(a)(1)(ii)
"Permitted uses and disclosures"). 

Bottom line: Trust is a must for ensuring quality healthcare. Thus, as
stated above, Congress needs to pass a strong, ethical patient consent
law that ensures patients have control over the flow of their personal
health information. 

What about the consent of the governed?
All told, the national mandatory health-insurance bill puts the federal
government in charge of individuals' insurance choices and data privacy.
This philosophy of governing is the opposite of America's founding
principle: consent of the governed. 

Without health freedom and privacy rights, Congress is opening the door
for many wrongs to be committed - all in the name of covering the
uninsured. 

Sue Blevins is president of the Institute for Health Freedom in
Washington. Robin Kaigh is an attorney and medical-privacy advocate in
New York.




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