PRESS RELEASES
For Immediate Release
Friday, February 13, 2009
Minneapolis/Saint Paul – The Citizens' Council on Health Care
(CCHC)
has just issued Part 1 of a new patient rights publication, "Economic
Stimulus" & Patient Rights Report. The report
will highlight the infringements of patient and privacy rights in
the economic stimulus bill that will be voted on today by Congress.
Twila Brase, president of CCHC and author of the report,
provides the following statement:
"The economic stimulus bill will infringe on longstanding
patient and privacy rights.
"Private medical
information will soon become part of a new national health
surveillance system - essentially one big government database of
medical records. Surprisingly, the bill will even allow
private medical data to be bought and sold.
"The public needs to know
that they won't be able to stay out of
the national health surveillance system. They need to know that they
will
not have
the right
to shield their private medical history by having more than one medical
record. By 2014, patient's private data will be linked together into
one
single comprehensive online medical record.
"The doctor's office
could soon be viewed as a national data collection center, not a clinic
of
confidential care.
"We are looking at the end of patient privacy rights in America.
We may also be
looking at the beginning of patients using innovative and potentially
harmful
strategies to evade surveillance. They will do all they can do to
protect their
own medical privacy.
"How does Congress think this will improve health care quality?"
Media Contact:
Twila Brase, RN, PHN
President
651-646-8935 office
- CCHC -
Citizens' Council on Health Care supports freedom for patients and doctors, medical innovation, and the right to a confidential patient-doctor relationship.
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Citizens' Council on Health Care is a non-profit, independent health care policy organization that supports free-market ideas in health care.
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