Re: Consent and Coercion

[Robert Gellman <rgellman@cais.cais.com>]

  Do I think your proposal is a good idea or a bad idea?  It's not an idea
  at all yet.  You haven't proposed anything other than telling someone else
  should do something about a problem that you can't articulate and for
  which you are unable to propose any substantive solutions.  It is not my
  idea and I don't have to justify it.  You are the proponent, and that is
  your responsibility.  If you can articulate a real problem and propose a
  meaningful solution that has a prayer of attracting support from important
  constituencies, then maybe you will have something.  
  
  Is there a problem here that should be addressed?  There may be a problem
  here worth discussing if the price isn't too high. I think that the Condit
  bill addresses it in large part already.  The Bennett bill does too, but
  in other ways that I am less happy about.  I am not worried about solving
  all of the problems in the world.  The goal is to develop a bill that can
  solve some problems and THAT CAN PASS.  Both bills take a slice of the
  health information world and propose solutions.  If there are other pieces
  left out, we will be no worse off than if we add them and get nothing as a
  result. 
  
  Going out to scrounge up new proposals that will do nothing but attract
  opposition from powerful constituencies is not my way of achieving the
  goal.  If you want to regulate the way in which the life insurance
  industry uses health information, write your own bill.  That is not the
  purpose of the bills now under consideration, and it is a guaranteed
  loser.  In case you haven't noticed, the Republicans control the Congress
  these days.  
  
  Bob
  
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