As ObamaCare may be headed to the Supreme Court, we find out that
(Washington Examiner) It’s been said a thousand times: Congress had to pass President Obama’s  health care law in order to find out what’s in it. But, despite the repetitiveness, the level of shock from each new discovery never seems to recede.
This time, America is learning about the federal government’s plan to collect and aggregate confidential patient records for every one of us.
In a proposed rule from Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the federal government is demanding insurance companies submit detailed health care information about their patients.
The HHS has proposed the federal government pursue one of three paths to obtain this sensitive information: A “centralized approach†wherein insurers’ data go directly to Washington; an “intermediate state-level approach†in which insurers give the information to the 50 states; or a “distributed approach†in which health insurance companies crunch the numbers according to federal bureaucrat edict.
What could possibly go wrong in handing over being forced to hand over confidential patient records? What if someone hacks in to the government server? What if yet another government moron loses their laptop or briefcase containing private data? What about the government getting a look at the confidential and private business practices of the insurance companies, which could “undermine their competitiveness”?
What happens to the federal government if it loses a laptop full of patient data or business information? What recourse do individual citizens have against an inept bureaucrat who leaves the computer unlocked? Imagine a Wikileaks-sized disclosure of every Americans’ health histories. The results could be devastating – embarrassing – even Orwellian.
Excellent point. What do we do when the government essentially says, in bureaucrat speak, to just suck it up and deal with it?
The HHS attempts to justify its proposal on the grounds that it has to be able to compare performance. No matter what the explanation is, however, this type of data collection is an egregious violation of patient-doctor confidentiality and business privacy. It is like J. Edgar Hoover in a lab coat.
Interesting how the Left always complained about Bush “trashing the Constitution” and invading our privacy, how they say the government should stay out of our bedrooms, as well as how the government should stay out of the doctor’s office when it comes to abortion on demand, yet, here we have a power grab that will put sensitive, personal, and confidential health records in the government’s hands.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. Please sign the drill now petition.
Remember that Obama pushed through computerized medical records as one of his first initiatives. Why? In Europe they are finding computerized records to be expensive and not worth the effort. The material that you get is worthless to your doctor.
Well it isn’t as if we didn’t already know that we needed to abolish the HHS Dept. and Katherine Sebelius for that matter.
What could possibly go wrong in being forced to hand over confidential patient records?
Well, they can deny your doctor’s request for a life-saving drug based upon your medical history, your age, your ability to pay on your own, and your voting record.
Death panels anyone?