It is time to make your voice known. As the new Obama administration rolls up its collective sleeves, the details of the coming economic stimulus bill have become known. A key issue for everyone is the privacy of your medical records. AAHF has written an excellent position paper on medical privacy.
The current economic stimulus bill mandates that every citizen’s health records be stored electronically, without providing patient consent provisions or offering the right to opt-out. During the presidential campaign, President Obama promised a $50 billion investment to create a national electronic medical record network, to be implemented by 2014. Your health records could potentially be available to over 600,000 covered entities through the health record network. It is also possible that your private health records could be leaked or stolen by hackers who broach the security safeguards.
According to Sue Blevins, president of Institute of Health Freedom, “Unless people have the right to decide if and when their health information is shared or whether to participate in research studies, they don’t have a true right to privacy.” There have been dozens of recorded instances when online medical records have become available for all to see on the Internet. Medical records can contain very private information that could affect your credit, your job, your family, and every aspect of your life.
While electronic medical records has long been one of the planks of healthcare reform, the basic rights of “opting out” and “patient consent” are not to be taken lightly. When credit scores can determine whether you’ll be able to purchase insurance, will your health records determine your ability to get a job or finance a home? Click here to send a letter to your Congressional Representative and Senator to insure you retain the right to keep your health records private.
Before we leave the stimulus bill, we should also mention that the house and senate `version`s contain other provisions about medical care including the establishment of a council that will decide what kind of medicine the government approves of (and will ultimately pay for or allow a tax deduction for). None of this of course has anything whatever to do with stimulus.
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I am all for natural medicine…..and I am all for a national healthplan that will get everybody covered. The first reason I feel this way is that we are not going to be a healthy nation if we don’t have healthy people that can hold a job when we get that problem figured out.
The second reason is that the people who, for the most part , don’t have health insurance are either young and relatively healthy or small business owners or their employees, part timers who might prefer full time employment, people holding valuable jobs(to our community) that aren’t paid enough to get health insurance. These people are “contributers” to our economy and we need to find a way to get them help as needed.
As far as fighting this idea because we would rather see them eat better and do other things to protect their health….that is missionary work for our health food community to do….as you are doing….and as Michelle Obama is doing and as those of us interested in this concept are doing….and this is the fastest growing sector of farming is doing. So after many years, we are making great progress….and that is where our emphasis should be….WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE EMERGENCY HEALTH SYSTEM TO A TAKE CARE OFYOURSELF SYSTEM AT THIS TIME…….BUT THERE ARE MORE AND MORE DOCS INTERESTED IN THIS…..LETS NOT THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER.
If you don’t have health insurance and you get in a car wreck, you will be glad you are part of a health system that can put you back together without costing so much you can’t afford any food, much less organic food.
First things first I think….let’s get a health system bill passed that cn cover most of the $$$$ problems we all face after an accident or serious illness, etc……then we can begin to help the powers that be find out that good food and supplements, etc. can further bring the medical costs down….people in general understand so much better now about how many fruits and veggies we really need to do well….and restaurants are beginning to catch on because they can’t be left behind the customers who are demanding better restaurant meals….and grocers get it too…let’s keep doing what we do so well and not get in the middle of a controversy that is tied in a million knots as it is. I know that requires us to be humble and patient, but we are already doing a good job….let’s don’t screw it up by getting in the middle of selfish polititians right now. As far as being humble and patient, if we are the healthiest, we should be able to do the best job of that….especially when healither habits are slowly but surely catching on.