Who is looking at your health records?
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:22 pm
‘‘TITLE XXX—HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND QUALITYâ€
The above is the section on the House version of the stimulus legislation for the implementation of a national electronic data bank for medical information. There is a similar provision in the Senate bill.
What this means is that every American will have all their health records whether it be a hospital stay or an office visit placed in a national data bank by 2014. The information is to be used to avoid duplicate care, to avoid unnecessary care, to improve preventive care, etc. Of course, the question remains as to who or what government agency will make those determinations. In other words, who will ration care?
You may think this is good or you may not. It is clear that there is a great deal of unnecessary care in the US and heaven knows we need to raise the standard of care, but one wonders why this legislation is buried in an economic stimulus package to fight a recession.
We may find the answer in a book by Tom Daschle where he advises that health care reform legislation be buried in a budget bill so as not to call attention to it.
This is the kind of thing that makes those of us who are suspect of the entire stimulus effort even more so.
At the very least you should know what is being called economic stimulus and what is advancing a hidden legislative agenda.
Just know what you are buying, even if you like it all.
And most of all, hope that our current set of politicians can learn to balance the needs of the next generation with their needs for the next election.
The above is the section on the House version of the stimulus legislation for the implementation of a national electronic data bank for medical information. There is a similar provision in the Senate bill.
What this means is that every American will have all their health records whether it be a hospital stay or an office visit placed in a national data bank by 2014. The information is to be used to avoid duplicate care, to avoid unnecessary care, to improve preventive care, etc. Of course, the question remains as to who or what government agency will make those determinations. In other words, who will ration care?
You may think this is good or you may not. It is clear that there is a great deal of unnecessary care in the US and heaven knows we need to raise the standard of care, but one wonders why this legislation is buried in an economic stimulus package to fight a recession.
We may find the answer in a book by Tom Daschle where he advises that health care reform legislation be buried in a budget bill so as not to call attention to it.
This is the kind of thing that makes those of us who are suspect of the entire stimulus effort even more so.
At the very least you should know what is being called economic stimulus and what is advancing a hidden legislative agenda.
Just know what you are buying, even if you like it all.
And most of all, hope that our current set of politicians can learn to balance the needs of the next generation with their needs for the next election.
I can always drive a couple of hours down the road and get medical services in Mexico. 
:-6