-Caveat Lector-
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 07:15:17 -0700
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Release: medical privacy
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Libertarian Party announcements list)
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
=======================================
NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: www.LP.org
=======================================
For release: December 9, 1999
=======================================
For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=======================================
Your medical privacy is under attack
by politicians' Unique Health Identifier
WASHINGTON, DC -- There's less than a month left to block a
federal regulation that will permit thousands of businesses and
government agencies -- including banks, the FBI, and even the
Environmental Protection Agency -- to examine your private medical
records without your consent, the Libertarian Party warned today.
And equally ominous: The same regulation will mandate that each
American get a "Unique Health Identifier" -- a Social Security
Number-style identifier from the government that will follow you
throughout your life and be permanently attached to all your medical
records.
"If these proposals are enacted, you might as well post your
health history on the Internet, because nearly anyone who wants that
information will have access to it," said Steve Dasbach, national
director of the Libertarian Party. "These proposals are a devious
attempt by the government to diminish your medical privacy -- while
claiming to protect it."
The new rules were unveiled by the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) in the Federal Register last month. The
Clinton Administration claimed the proposals would "safeguard"
Americans' medical privacy by making health-care companies responsible
for any privacy lapses or violations.
But the real result will be to throw your private records wide
open to dozens of government departments, for-profit businesses, and
law enforcement agencies, said Dasbach -- while stripping individuals
of their right to file lawsuits to protect their medical privacy.
"The government claims these rules are designed to protect
you," he said. "But trusting politicians to protect your medical
privacy is like hiring Bill Clinton as night watchman at a girls'
dormitory. The only way to protect your health records is to make sure
the government doesn't have them."
And because of the mandatory "Unique Health Identifier"
provision, accessing health records could become "just as easy and
convenient as accessing your credit history is now," he warned.
"The list of people who could read your medical records is like
a Who's Who of people you don't want to see them," said Dasbach.
Included on the list: Banks, state insurance commissions, the
Department of Justice, the FBI, criminal defense attorneys, federal
welfare agencies, the Health and Human Services' Office of Civil
Rights, the Social Security Administration, the Department of
Education, OSHA, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Is there anyone who wouldn't have access to your medical
records?
"Yes -- you!" said Dasbach. "The regulation doesn't guarantee
that individuals can access their own medical records in all
circumstances. Plus, there is no statutory authority for you to take
action if your medical privacy is breached. The government apparently
believes that federal bureaucrats and police have a greater right to
your medical records than you do."
But the prognosis isn't all bad, said Dasbach: There may still
be time to stop the proposal.
"We have a few weeks left to try to protect medical privacy,"
he said. "The Libertarian Party is working with other groups to stop
this medical spy scheme before it starts -- by encouraging Americans to
inundate the HHS with comments, and demand that politicians back down
from this malignant proposal."
The HHS is accepting public comments until January 3, 2000. If
the proposal isn't terminated by then, it will go into effect in
February 2000.
"When it comes to medical privacy, the government is the
disease," said Dasbach. "Stopping this proposal is one way we can keep
our medical privacy -- and liberty -- a little bit healthier."
To comment via e-mail, visit the special "Medical Privacy" link
on the Libertarian Party's website: www.LP.org.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2
iQCVAwUBOE+nTNCSe1KnQG7RAQH/2AQAtGyVxJpkroZGZn82FyjqNpw44KN8W2QM
z3y/fmrEEYq+jLRbJ9TWI2LAL5r7Xb70bQIedTFjqsYI2jyrMsW4mQj26n/9axVW
G1jK1UqfJijCqMXLIDtgkiwUj1vXnHe7rAxMty+QCFCZQ7bLvo9Dt33Gl7MNZOvz
z72lWQNnUbg=
=IWGj
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008
Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072
For subscription changes, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with
just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Or use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/lp-announce-form.html
------- End of forwarded message -------
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said
it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your
own reason and your common sense." --Buddha
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut." Ernest Hemingway
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
