Federal Privacy Regulations Are Nothing but a Pain

Op Ed Colby Free Press Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Page 3 Federal privacy regulations are nothing but a pain

A couple of things are pretty ob- pitals have stopped offering people Hospitals and nursing homes are ing, he said, it’s mostly because vious. the option of being included in a supposed to work with people and people don’t understand the new After listening to taxpayers and Steve Haynes public directory or of having their tell them whether they have, say, rules. How the average person, in or citizens at public meetings, people name released to newspapers, radio your mother, but many don’t know out of the medical field, could un- don’t much like the new govern- Along stations, ministers and the like. or don’t care. They are scared of derstand, is a question he avoids. ment regulations under the Health ¥ the Sappa Some hospital administrators say breaking the law. The rules may have been written Insurance Portability and Account- they can’t do that; others say their And ordinary people, citizens, to correct some real problems, but ability Act, popularly known as lawyers have advised them not to voters, are unhappy. like most federal regulations, they “HIPAA.” get involved. Stiff fines, up to But what to do about it? That’s do far more. The other is, having their regula- have cost the medical and insurance from groups worried about open $10,000 per occurrence, have many Rep. Moran’s problem. ¼They push government control tions in place, the federal bureau- industries billions thus far, sprang access to public records, but lately, in the health care industry scared. There’s little chance the rules will into every corner of the health in- crats have no intention of letting go. from just two lines in a law, known the average citizen has started to Others may just have a personal be repealed. The people who put dustry. Nursing homes, hospitals, The so-called privacy lobby in then as the Kennedy-Kassebaum figure out that the new rules are a bias against letting patient informa- them there stand in the way. The doctors and pharmacists, all have Washington is far too strong to let Bill after our own former U.S. Sena- pain. tion out. bureaucrats actually think they spent untold hours and untold bil- that happen. And neither group tor. That section authorized the sec- It’s likely that much of the trouble Federal officials say there are have done something wonderful. lions trying to comply. much cares what we think out here. retary of Health and Human Ser- stems from the fact that the rules, exceptions in the law for informa- Richard M. Campanelli, director In an era when health care costs After listening to voters in town vices to write regulations covering progeny of a two-sentence section tion to go to ministers and the press, of the Office of Civil Rights at are soaring, why is the government after town on his 69-county “Lis- patient privacy rights. of a seven-year-old law, occupy for example, but most hospitals Health and Human Service, spoke doing this? tening Tour” of the 1st Congres- The law was passed in 1996, and most of a small book. No one under- seem to be unaware of those. Hos- this month to members of the Na- To help us, of course. sional District, Rep. Jerry Moran Rep. Moran likes to note that he was stands them, save maybe the bu- pitals can offer people a chance to tional Newspaper Association. He We may not like it, but the people said he is ready to try to do some- sworn in too late to vote on it. The reaucrats who wrote them. be in a directory or have their name defended the regulations, saying in Washington plainly do not care. thing about the law. The question is, privacy regulations did not go into Supposedly, patients have the in a published list of patients so their they gave people power over their They think they know best. — Mr. what? effect for another seven years. right to decide how their own infor- friends will know where they are, own medical records. Haynes is co-owner of Nor’West The HIPAA regulations, which At first, the alarm came mostly mation is used. However, most hos- but it’s just not happening. To the extent that’s not happen- Newspapers. Amended fax rules could cause small businesses to suffer The government is helping folks written permission to fax them first. for up to $1,500 per fax. the overload? Once, before e-mail again — helping put us out of busi- Cynthia If you wanted the proof of an ad, In the cities, lawyers are gather- spam, there were a lot of junk faxes. ness. a copy of a legal document, a bill, a ing unsolicited faxes and paying $2 But now, why would anyone spend As part of the Do-Not-Call law, Haynes bid, a purchase order, a set of plans each with the understanding that money sending faxes when they can the Federal Communications Com- or just about anything other than a they can sue the sender and collect junk up your e-mail for free? mission amended its regulations to Open letter from your grandmother, any damages for themselves. This is another example of the restrict the use of faxes for business. ¥ you’d better have sent the person What does all this mean? government offering a steam shovel The commission ruled that no Season faxing you written permission. It’ll cost everyone more to do to swat a fly which has already one can send a fax with advertising Worse yet, if you run a commer- business. That means that it’ll cost flown off. information on it without having the cial fax business, you are liable for the consumers more for goods and And, of course, the government written permission of the person to asked that you send them informa- eling and want bids from two or what other people send out on your services. Businesses will not be able will be exempt from the rules. As whom it is sent. This permission is tion. three contractors, they won’t be line. to give the kind of service that they usual. good for three years. Advertising information can be able to fax you the information. The government, in its infinite should be able to provide because “We’re from the government. You can’t get permission by as little as your letterhead with a If you want to send a bill to a cus- wisdom, has put off implementa- they’ll be afraid of being sued. We’re here to help you.” — Mrs. faxing someone a sheet. It has to be logo or slogan. tomer who asks you to fax it to them, tion of this rule until January. How- And for what? Who gets so many Haynes is co-owner of Nor’West mailed to them, even if they have If you decide to do a little remod- you couldn’t unless you had their ever, after that violators can be sued faxes that they feel threatened by Newspapers. Share your opinions Doonesbury with the Free Press • Gary Trudeau family. Email to: [email protected]

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