[Med-privacy] "Wired" Act

[peter marshall]

--Apple-Mail-4-245279507
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=WINDOWS-1252;
	format=flowed





Coalition for Patient Privacy Asks for

Meaningful Privacy Protections in the =93Wired=94 Act

Adding privacy later will further open up our health records to data=20
miners and cost taxpayers millions.

=A0

Washington D.C. --=A0 As Senators Kennedy and Enzi, sponsors of the =
Wired=20
for Healthcare Quality Act, S. 1693, try to push =A0legislation through=20=

the Senate prior to the holiday recess, members of the Coalition for=20
Patient Privacy asked that the bill go no further until privacy=20
protections are added.=A0 Passage of the Wired Act as written will=20
further erode Americans=92 right to keep their health records private =
and=20
cost the taxpayers millions.=A0 Download the Coalition's letter here.=A0=20=

Download an analysis of the privacy language in the=A0Wired Act here.

=A0

While the Coalition applauds Kennedy and Enzi=92s efforts to advance=20
health information technology, it opposes the Wired Act without the=20
addition of meaningful protections to keep the most valuable=20
information about us, our health, private.=A0 Sen. Leahy drafted an=20
essential amendment adding privacy protections.=A0 The Coalition urges=20=

the Wired Act=92s sponsors to continue good faith discussions with Sen.=20=

Leahy and include all of the privacy protections proposed in his=20
amendment.

=A0

If asked, surely Senators Kennedy & Enzi would confirm that Americans=20
should have a right to control our most personal and sensitive health=20
information.=A0 Refusal to incorporate meaningful privacy protections is=20=

puzzling and it is very troubling to see the insurance and health=20
industry trump Americans=92 right to control who can see and use our =
most=20
personal secrets.

=A0

=93What politician would openly take a stand against privacy?=94 asks=20
Deborah Peel, MD, founder and chair of Patient Privacy Rights, a leader=20=

within the Coalition for Patient Privacy.

=A0

Sponsors of the Wired Act have argued that privacy is too complicated=20
to include in their bill and that it can be added later.=A0 Not only is=20=

this approach bad for privacy, it moves us toward =A0a system that will=20=

cost taxpayers millions.=A0 According to a Government Executive story=20
just released, Congress just appropriated $20 million to fix the VA=20
data breach, a result of failing to incorporate basic privacy=20
protections at the outset..

=A0

=93Privacy is not something than can just be fixed after the fact.=A0 =
When=20
your employer finds out you have an STD or heart condition, they have=20
that information forever.=A0 There is no magic =93delete=94 button for =
health=20
information,=94 said Peel.

=A0

Members of The Coalition for Patient Privacy that signed the recent=20
letter on Wired include:

American Association of People with Disabilities=A0 http://www.aapd.org/

American Civil Liberties Union=A0 http://www.aclu.org/

American Conservative Union=A0 http://www.conservative.org/

Clinical Social Work Association=A0 http://www.cswa.org/=A0

Consumer Action=A0 http://www.consumer-action.org/

Consumers for Health Care Choices=A0 http://www.chcchoices.org/

Fairfax County Privacy Council=A0=20
http://www.fairfaxcountyprivacycouncil.org/

Gun Owners of America=A0 http://www.gunowners.org/

International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet=A0=20
http://www.icdri.org/

Just Health=A0 http://www.justhealthnow.org/

National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals & Consumers

Pain Relief Network=A0 http://www.painreliefnetwork.org/

Patient Privacy Rights Foundation http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/

Private Citizen, Inc.=A0 http://www.privatecitizen.com/

U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

=A0

--Apple-Mail-4-245279507
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Type: image/gif;
	x-unix-mode=0666;
	name="PixelServer.gif"
Content-Disposition: inline;
	filename=PixelServer.gif

R0lGODlhAQABAID/AMDAwAAAACH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==

--Apple-Mail-4-245279507--