CCHC HEALTH eNEWS
by Twila Brase, President

• Special Session - Don't Do It!
• Cute SCHIP Commercial Exploits Children
• Bad Medicine
• Privacy Rights - Unwanted Guest at E-Health Table
• Be a Citizen Voice

Special Session -  Don't Do It!
Minnesota Governor Pawlenty appears ready to call a special session. 
He should be encouraged not to do so. Here's the problem. While he is 
the only one empowered to call a special session, he can do nothing 
about it once it begins. Despite all comments to the contrary, he 
cannot control the agenda, limit the legislation offered, or shut it 
down. He can only veto or sign bills. Legislation completely 
unrelated to the bridge collapse or the flooding could be introduced 
or amended onto the bills used to fund repair of the bridge and 
restoration of Southeastern Minnesota. If you want to keep your life, 
liberty, money, and property safe for the next 6 months (legislature 
reconvenes Feb 12, 2008), contact the governor at: 651-296-3391, 
1-800-657-3717, tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

Cute SCHIP Commercial Exploits Children
It's cute, it's brilliant, and it's a huge threat to health freedom. 
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has aimed their big guns at 
Congress with the recent $2 million SCHIP ad campaign now running for 
three weeks on a TV station near you. RWJF is a leading advocate of 
single-payer health systems, HMOs, and socialized medicine. The State 
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) can be used to 
nationalize health care. The Clinton's Option 3 for national health 
care was KIDS FIRST: first the children, then their parents, then 
childless adults, etc. SCHIP is in every state. RWJF has provided 
funding to MN's Department of Human Services, administrator of  
MinnesotaCare (SCHIP). If RWJF gets its way, these cute clueless 
children will have no private market options in their health care 
futures. Will they be happy about the part they were made to play? 
(AARP and the American Medical Association are spending $1.3 million 
on pro-SCHIP ads too...without children so I hear)

Bad Medicine
The Medicare Administration will no longer pay for care associated 
with certain medical mistakes according to a new rule. Welcome to 
government-based rationing, and the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 
2005. While not paying for "medical errors" makes sense at first 
blush, most of Medicare's targeted hospital-acquired infections and 
treatment complications are not errors, and even if they were, 
mistakes happen. Medicine is a marvelous but messy business on 
diverse and complicated patients...not one-size-fits-all widgets. 
Moreover, studies prove that doctors themselves do not agree on what 
constitutes an error. But Medicare bureaucrats, working 9 - 5 in 
Washington D.C. can?

The Aug 23 rule means treatment for hospital-inquired infections and 
complications won't be covered for certain conditions now, and for 
more in the future. Although the administration was told (p. 47200) 
"not all hospital-acquired infections are preventable" and "sicker 
and more complex patients are at greater risk for hospital-acquired 
infections and complications," Medicare didn't blink.

Medicare must want model patients and medical perfection, neither of 
which have existed in the history of medicine or humanity. As payment 
declines, doctors may avoid complicated patients and complex 
procedures. Innovation could lag. The rule also requires additional 
expensive time-consuming paperwork and data reporting that will take 
doctors, nurses and dollars AWAY from patient care--and discourage 
use of specialty care hospitals--paving the way for real medical 
errors to happen more often, not less. It's time to consider a new 
vision for Medicare, an escape plan, not a rescue plan (pg 9).

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Privacy Rights - Unwanted Guest at E-Health Table
If privacy would just get out of the way, national online health data 
advocates would be pleased. Sallie Hunt, chief privacy officer at the 
WV Health Care Authority says, "Some federal privacy requirements 
pose implementation challenges for health information exchanges." Her 
problem??? The 1996 federal HIPAA law allows STATES to create strong, 
or shall we say REAL, privacy laws that HIPAA doesn't have. The 2003 
HIPAA rule is actually a "no privacy" rule. But data-hungry 
corporations and government agencies want to nationalize "privacy" 
rules (eliminate privacy rights) and nationalize sharing disclosure, 
and use of patient data.  They want state legislators, and patient 
consent and ownership rights, out of the picture.

Last February, the co-chairman of the federal privacy and security 
workgroup resigned due to the group's lack of interest in protecting 
privacy. The workgroup is part of the American Health Information 
Community, the federal advisory group created to craft a national 
online health information system. Now the feds want to make AHIC a 
tax-exempt "public-private" organization funded by you and me ($13 
million federal grant) and likely governed by all the big players 
(corporate executives and government bureaucrats) who have spent at 
least a decade pushing for full-scale access to our private data.

Be a Citizen Voice
Members are being sought for several Minnesota state advisory boards 
related to health care, genetic testing and research, and government 
health surveillance. These boards need free-market, limited 
government voices...and real consumer/citizen/practitioner members:

- Environmental Health Tracking and Biomonitoring Advisory Panel 
(2007 law will allow linking all government databases together and 
doing environmental research) -

- Health Information Technology and Infrastructure (e-Health) 
Advisory Committee (advancing online electronic medical records for 
all patients in Minnesota)
- Minnesota Genetic Information Work Group (formed by 2006 genetic 
privacy law)
- Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee (screening newborns, 
databasing results, and monitoring children)
APPLY HERE. Let us know if you get in!

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Thursday, August 23, 2007