The Institute for Health Freedom has a great primer on a proposed rule from the bureacrats at the Department of Health and Human Services in DC.  HHS wants to force doctors to create and share electronic medical records of their patients without patient consent.  HHS is taking public comments on the rule until Monday.  IHF has all the details including how to send in your comments to HHS:

It's not unusual for employers to conduct criminal background checks during the hiring process. But the University of Akron has taken this to a surprising new level.

The Ohio school now reserves the right to require any prospective faculty, staff, or contractor to submit a DNA sample, which genetic-testing experts say makes it the first employer in the nation to take such an extreme and potentially intrusive step.

Medical Privacy & Secure Flight

I will be laying out a bit of history and then the present day issues at hand when it comes to both medical privacy and secure flight and then offering a grade to date for President Obama’s Administration on both issues. The historical context and comparisons between Administrations is important but I will also be basing my grade not just on comparisons between Obama, Bush and Clinton but on what is appropriate for a Constitutional Republic based on the sovereignty of the individual.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Media Advisory 
Thursday, September 3, 2009 
 Contact: 
Gerald Tan, EPIC Administrative Coordinator 
(202) 483?1140 x119 admin@epic.org 
  Privacy Report Card for  
the Obama Administration 
 
National Press Club 
Washington, DC 
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 

Privacy concerns are generating another round of complaints about health care legislation being considered in the House.

The bill calls for the secretary of health and human services to be able to quickly determine a person's financial responsibility and eligibility for health care services, "which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card."

Please contact your Representative.

(Find your Representative www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml)

(Congressional Switchboard- 202-224-3121) and ask him to support H.R. 2630 “Protect Patients and Physicians Privacy Act.”

H.R. 2630 grants individuals the ability to opt out of any federally mandated, created, or funded electronic system for maintaining medical information.

It repeals the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to adopt standards for the creation of a unique health identifier.

We keep hearing about how the War on Drugs has failed. But the truth is, the War on Drugs has been tremendously successful, that is if you wanted your country to be a police state, your Congress completely unresponsive to the needs of the people, and your doctors letting you and your loved ones live and die in unnecessary pain.

Full Story

Washington, DC (March 26, 2009)—While it is touted as a major tool for lowering health care costs, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) has serious implications for Americans' health privacy. The Institute for Health Freedom (IHF) warns that the economic stimulus law (H.R. 1, Public Law No. 111-5) weakens individuals' control over the flow of their personal health information. "The economic stimulus law plans for every American to use an electronic health record (EHR) and allows those records to be sold for research and public-health purposes—without patients' consent," said Sue Blevins, IHF president.

"According to some health IT experts, we're entering a 'gold rush' era for health data," Blevins noted. "Sophisticated data-management techniques make it increasingly easy to share individuals' most sensitive health data—including genetic information—without their knowing it. The EHR further enables this sharing. That is why addressing patient ownership and consent rights are essential. Such rights will determine whether Americans will either 'own or be owned, control or be controlled' when it comes to their genetic and other personal health data."

"Unfortunately, the economic stimulus law does not guarantee that individuals own and control their genetic and other personal health data. Thus, Congress should act soon to make sure Americans have individual ownership rights and full control over their personal health data as we move toward adopting EHR systems," she said.

IHF released a side-by-side comparison of key aspects of the federal HIPAA privacy rule and the privacy provisions in the economic stimulus law (see: http://www.forhealthfreedom.org/Newsletter/March2009.html).

The comparison shows clearly that the new law does not give citizens final say in who can access their personal health information. "As it stands, the HIPAA law allows individuals' data to be disclosed to more than 600,000 health-related organizations—without patients' consent. And the economic stimulus law did not close this huge gap," noted Blevins. "Let's hope Congress fixes this soon by ensuring ownership rights and patient-consent rights regarding the disclosure of Americans' personal health information—including genetic information."

Moreover, IHF points out that most members of Congress didn't have time to read the economic stimulus bill before voting on it. And President Obama didn't read the bill in its entirety before signing it into law, according to a CBS News report. "IHF urges Congress and President Obama to read thoroughly future bills before voting and signing them into law. Also, the American public should receive at least one week to study proposed laws so they can share their informed views with their elected officials. Our health privacy rights are vital and deserve thoughtful and well-informed policymaking," Blevins said.

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The Institute for Health Freedom (IHF) (www.ForHealthFreedom.org) is national nonprofit, educational organization whose mission is to bring the issues of personal health freedom to the forefront of the American health-policy debate. IHF monitors and reports on national policies that affect citizens' freedom to choose their health-care treatments and providers, and to maintain their health privacy—including genetic privacy.