-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Bush Baffles Med-Privacy Pundits by Jeffrey Benner 2:00 a.m. Apr. 13, 2001 PDT The Bush Administration baffled pundits and defied predictions on Thursday when it decided to allow sweeping privacy regulations drafted under the Clinton Administration to take effect this Saturday. Once they become law on Saturday, the new regulations (PDF file) will grant patients more control over their medical records. Any time medical information changes hands, it will require consent from the patient -- something the health care industry claims will be cumbersome and expensive to do. The new administration has repeatedly declared its opposition to new government regulations that make it harder to do business. And from repealing ergonomics legislation to arsenic rules, it's proven itself willing to side with business, even in hot-button political issues. The smart money said the same thing would happen to the medical privacy rules. It was wrong, and now medical privacy pundits are wondering why. "I'm surprised they didn't pull the rules," said Bob Gelman, a consultant who has worked on the medical privacy issue for over 20 years. "Everyone I talked to thought they would. It's a little bizarre." Gelman is not the only one confused. Health care industry organizations like the American Hospital Association (AHA) pushed hard to loosen the new rule, claiming it would be too difficult and expensive to implement. When Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson reopened the new rules to public comment last February, it appeared the AHA's message was getting through, and the administration would make good on its reputation as a friend of business and foe of government regulation. Melinda Hatton, an AHA lawyer, struggled to explain what had happened. "I don't know," she said. "I wish I knew. It was a profound disappointment to us. We wanted them to extend the effective date and fix the rule." Joy Pitts, who is senior counsel for Georgetown University's Health Privacy Project and a supporter of the new regulations, didn't expect the victory. "It is a surprise," she said. "Especially considering the intense pressure from the industry. They really put out an all-out attack." Despite the rule taking effect, the battle isn't over. Critics of the rule, like the AHA's Hatton, plan to hold Bush and Thompson to their puzzling promises to modify the rule after it goes into effect. In the same Thursday statement that announced the rule would become law, Bush acknowledged that some complaints about it were legitimate, and "asked Secretary Thompson to recommend appropriate modifications to the rule to address these concerns." In a separate statement, Thompson promised to publish "guidelines" that "will allow us to clarify some of the confusion regarding the impact this rule might have on health care delivery and access. And we will consider any necessary modifications that will ensure the quality of care does not suffer inadvertently from this rule." Why would the administration implement a new rule and then promise to change it all in one breath? Larry Gostin, a professor of Law and Public Health at Georgetown, thinks the administration may have had no choice but to let the rule stand. "The legal wiggle room was minuscule," Gostin said. "They're in a box and they can't get out of it." *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions 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, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== 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
