-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Shalala pulls plug on public comment No faxes allowed, e-mail restricted on proposed medical privacy rules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Jon E. Dougherty © 2000 WorldNetDaily.com Although Thursday marks the close of the 60-day public comment period on the Department of Health and Human Services' new and controversial proposed medical rules -- which critics say will destroy patient confidentiality and lead to a centralized medical data base -- the giant federal bureaucracy has made it so difficult for citizens to comment that even the ACLU is up in arms. The proposed rules, unveiled last fall by HHS, cite the need for new standards "to protect the privacy of individually identifiable health information maintained or transmitted in connection with certain administrative and financial transactions." However, critics of the plan say the new rules, if approved, would instead move government closer to digitally warehousing medical information on all Americans, while providing third parties easier access to private medical records. In accordance with federal rulemaking processes, the department established a 60-day commentary period, which ends Thursday, for the public to voice opinions about the proposed rules. But Health and Human Services has made the process too cumbersome, say those who have tried to submit their views, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union to complain about the process. At one point the department accepted public comments by regular mail, fax and via email over the Internet. But after receiving an inordinate amount of complaints by fax -- some 2,400 according to the ACLU -- officials at HHS stopped accepting faxes and admonished those seeking to voice their opinions to use regular mail or the Internet. Yet the email option consists of "registering" at the HHS website, answering a list of invasive questions, and being assigned a unique identifier ID and password before allowing comments to be submitted. Mailing one's opinion is even more burdensome. Kent Snyder of the Liberty Study Committee, which opposes the new rules, said an HHS advisory asks citizens to "mail comments -- one original and three copies and if possible a floppy disk as well." The guidelines also say, "you should include your full name, address, telephone number, and a central or knowledgeable point of contact with your comments." The ACLU issued a press advisory complaining about the cumbersome commentary requirements. "This is a classic case of David vs. Goliath," said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington Office. "The HHS system is set up so that it is far easier for special interest groups like the insurance industry to weigh in than it is for the average person to make their views known." The civil rights organization said the Health and Human Services website is "so complicated to use that it is virtually impossible to submit. And once a user locates the form, HHS has made it unnecessarily complicated and decidedly user-unfriendly." "Where is the opportunity for the American public to tell Secretary Shalala, 'I am concerned,' without having to submit their comments in quadruplicate or spend hours combing the agency's website?" said Murphy. "It is time for the reality of how HHS operates to match the President's promise of public participation." Worse, after thousands of people had faxed comments to Health and Human Services, ACLU officials were told by an agent of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations section of the Federal Protective Service that the department would no longer accept faxes, suggesting the department considered them threatening or dangerous to the safety of HHS officials. Snyder said his organization has created a much simpler commentary form on the home page of their website. Internet users wishing to send their opinions about the proposed medical privacy rules will see a "copy" of a simple "memo" addressed to HHS, along with general information questions and a comments box. "We plan to hand-deliver each and every response we get -- no matter the point of view -- to HHS personally," Snyder said. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala said Nov. 3 that her new proposals were "an important first step" in protecting the medical privacy of all Americans. "Our proposals will provide Americans with greater peace of mind as they seek care, yet they are balanced with the need to protect public health, conduct medical research and improve the quality of health care for the nation," Shalala said. Snyder said the rules would actually harm medical privacy by giving access control of all medical records to a number of groups who don't currently have access. They also give the federal government authority to set the terms over who has access to records, and patients will not be guaranteed access to medical malpractice information obtained for a legal proceeding. Patients will not be able to sue if their medical privacy is breached, he added, and the proposed rules are little more than a first step toward creating a centralized medical record database. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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