CCHC, Citizens, and Legislators Ask Governor & Legislative Leadership to Protect Individual Healthcare Rights

Minneapolis/St. Paul — At a press conference held today, Citizens' Council on Health Care (CCHC) asked Governor Tim Pawlenty and legislative leadership to protect the individual rights and privacy rights of citizens in the second Health and Human Services bill that will follow yesterday's veto of the first HHS bill.

“We have a list of five specific provisions we do NOT want to see in the next HHS bill. We're calling these our 'NOT' provisions, and they all relate to the purchasing rights and privacy rights of individuals,” said Twila Brase, president of CCHC. The five CCHC “NOT” provisions are:

• NOT the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange - loss of right to buy insurance privately
• NOT a new patient consent standard - proof of consent no longer needed for disclosure
• NOT creation of online database of patients and data - the Record Locator Service (RLS)
• NOT an online medical records mandate
• NOT funds that enable the health department to electronically tap into all medical records

Joining Ms. Brase were state legislators, concerned citizens, insurance agents, and representatives from the business community.

Dr. Paul Bearmon, M.D. said online medical records and elimination of patient consent requirements will negatively impact patient privacy and the confidential patient-doctor relationship.

Mr. Tom Aslesen, an insurance broker, said, “At some point the Health Insurance Exchange could assume complete power over health insurance options and operations. There could be only a few people making health insurance decisions for everyone in the State of Minnesota.”

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano) said, “The public's rights are at stake. The next Health and Human Services bill must not stamp out privacy or remove the private health insurance market from Minnesota.”

“The rights of individuals deserve great protection, and we call on the legislative leadership and the Governor to protect them in the upcoming negotiations over the final HHS bill,” said Ms. Brase.

At the conclusion, CCHC and the group of participants went directly and en masse to the Governor's Office to deliver the large stack of petitions sent online and by mail to CCHC from citizens around the state. Photos appearing soon online.