Re: Notes on Industry Support for S. 1360

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

On Mon, 20 Nov 1995, Robert Gellman wrote:
> So are you opposed to any bill that industry can support? 

   Industry is a pretty broad term.  The point of my note was to report 
who was engaged in the bill, a topic that was considered important enough 
for a report in Health Data Network News, so why not 
med-privacy@essential.org?

  
   Could I support a bill that "industry" supports?  Who is the 
industry?  The AMA?  The hospital association?  Equifax?  Probably the 
first two, maybe not the last one, but who knows.


> In 1980 we had
> a bill that industry opposed.  It got killed when it came up for a vote on
> House floor.  Support from privacy advocates is not enough.  And does
> anybody think that it is possible to pass a bill that industry opposes? 

    I think that we could do pretty good this time around, if we could 
ever get a vote.  I've worked on issues where we have surprised a few 
persons before.  The hard part is getting a vote on a good bill, or a 
good amendment.  Maybe we will have a chance.  Maybe CDT will outsmart 
us, and it'll be done on some budget bill, and we'll never know how 
people would have voted.

> 
> And I notice that there isn't any law enforcement support.  In fact, the 
> rumor is that the Justice Department stopped HHS from sending up a 
> statement expressing mild support for the Bennett bill.  So if it turns 
> out that the cops hate the bill, then it must be good.  Is that the theory?

     Not my theory, but I'm less worried about them than the medical 
records industry, at this point.

jamie
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James Love, love@tap.org
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