Even though public-opinion polls show that Americans care deeply about medical privacy and strongly support the requirement of informed consent before personal health information is shared, federal officials are moving forward on the National Health Information Network of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) without true health-privacy rights in place. (Health privacy is defined as the freedom to maintain a confidential relationship.) The Institute for Health Freedom (IHF) has reported for some time on the federal government’s plan.
To understand how such health-policy reform is occurring without the consent of the governed, one need only look at the enormous growth in government to see how it is leading to less and less privacy. The following excerpts are from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recent Request for Information from the health-care industry regarding electronic medical records. They provide valuable facts for understanding the essentially monopolistic power of Medicare.
- “CMS is the largest purchaser of health care in the United States, and as such has a significant interest in the health and well being of its Medicare beneficiaries” (emphasis added).
- “CMS has one of the largest stores of health data in the country, with robust claims history for all of its Medicare beneficiaries” (emphasis added).
- “CMS collects a wide variety of data on our Medicare beneficiaries. For example, 100% of Medicare fee-for-service claims information is collected and stored” (emphasis added).
- “CMS will also be collecting 100% of claims paid for drugs under the new Medicare Part D benefit” (emphasis added).
- “With the addition of the prescription drug benefit in 2006, CMS will have claims information on virtually all types of services that Medicare beneficiaries receive” (emphasis added).
- “CMS maintains clinical and functional assessment data for patients in nursing homes and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, as well as for those served by home health agencies.”
The bottom line is that if the federal government (the largest payer of health care in the United States!) is paying doctor and hospital bills, it is going to want to review, study, and analyze health-insurance claims.
Perhaps it is time to reform our nation’s health-care system so that citizens receive cash directly from insurers (private insurers, Medicare, etc.) and pay their own bills (rather than having payments sent to providers). The United States relied on such a system for many years until Medicare was created in 1965, and life expectancy improved significantly under free-market health care.
The statistics above show clearly that if Americans cherish their longstanding rights to govern themselves and maintain privacy, they are going to have to limit the role of government in their lives. It’s time to consider empowering citizens with the responsibility to pay their own health-care bills, choose their own medical treatments, and maintain confidential relationships with the providers of their choice.
Source:
CMS’s Request for Information on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Role in Personal Health Records: http://www1.eps.gov/spg/HHS/HCFA/AGG/Reference%2DNumber%2DCMSRFIOESSAC1/Attachments.html