GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ACTION ALERT
Protest New Modifications by HHS to the Medical Privacy Rule!
Comments needed ASAP!
April 16, 2002
THE ISSUE AT HAND
On March 21, 2002, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
announced proposed changes to the HIPAA medical privacy regulation. The proposed
modifications were published in the Federal Register on March 27th with a 30-day
public comment period.
HHS must receive comments no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April
26.
ACTION NEEDED
Please write HHS and express your opposition NOW to the proposed
modifications.
See sample letter below.
You can also submit your comments electronically at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/.
SAMPLE LETTER
|
April ___, 2002
The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for
Civil Rights
Attention: Privacy 2
Room 425A
Hubert H. Humphrey
Building
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
RE: Comments on Proposed Modifications to the Privacy Rule
As a professional social worker and member of the National
Association of Social Workers, I am writing to oppose any changes that would
weaken The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy
Rule.
I strongly object to your proposal to remove from the Privacy
Rule the requirement that health care providers obtain written consent before
disclosing medical information for the purpose of treatment, payment, and health
care operations. Eliminating consent before medical records are disclosed is a
major step backward in protecting privacy. This about face is perceived by many
Americans as an abdication by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
of the principal focus of the Privacy Rule, which is to protect the confidential
records of those persons receiving medical or mental health
treatment.
I am also extremely concerned about the proposed changes to the
marketing provisions of the Privacy Rule. Your proposal actually makes it easier
for health plans and providers, like chain drug stores, to engage in activities
that a consumer would consider to be both marketing as well as an invasion of
his/her privacy without ever having to get permission to use personal and
private health care information.
HIPAA was enacted as a safeguard; please do not eviscerate its
protective intention by failing to respect the privacy of medical information.
Sincerely yours,
|
BACKGROUND
President Clinton signed into law the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) on August 21, 1996. , HIPAA requires: security
standards and privacy standards for health care information, administrative
simplification for the filing of health care insurance claims; and -the adoption
of national uniform standards for the electronic transmission of certain
administrative and financial transactions.
HIPAA also required Congress to enact legislation specifying a set of health
information privacy rules by August 21, 1999. Since Congress failed to meet that
deadline, as mandated by HIPAA, then HHS Secretary Donna Shalala proposed a set
of information security regulations on October 29, 1999, with an extended
comment period. NASW submitted its comments. The final rule was promulgated in
December 2000.
In February 2001, Secretary Thompson requested public comments on the final
rule to help HHS assess the impact on health care delivery. NASW also submitted
comments.
For additional background information on HIPAA, please visit the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services: Fact Sheet www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020321.html
and Frequently Asked Questions www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/genoverview.html,
or contact Francesca Fierro O'Reilly, NASW Government Relations, at fforeilly@naswdc.org.
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