UnitedHealth Group Won’t Play the Health Care Game with Exchanges - ‘Bails Out’

ST. PAUL, Minn.—UnitedHealth Group, Inc., is leaving more and more state Obamacare exchanges, announcing recently that it will also pull out of the health care marketplaces in Kentucky and Iowa, bringing to 26 the number of states the health insurer is quitting next year, according to Bloomberg.com.

Indiana Court Ruling Strikes a Blow Against the Protection of Baby DNA

A Win for Patient Privacy

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Politico is reporting today that a little-talked about section of the House-passed 21st Century Cures Act (H.R.6) appears dead in the Senate. The House language would allow “HIPAA-protected information to be shared with researchers.”

Medicare’s Bundled Payment Program Is Coercive Experiment on Patients

ST. PAUL, Minn.—A five-year Medicare experiment that began on April 1 forces 800 hospital systems in 67 metro areas to receive “bundled payments” for the care of patients who are undergoing hip and knee joint replacements. And these payments must cover all charges associated with these procedures, regardless of how high they might be.

Report Finds 300+ Obamacare Cybersecurity Incidents; HealthCare.Gov Vulnerable to Hackers

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Over 18 months, HealthCare.gov, the government online portal used by millions to purchase health insurance under Obamacare, logged 316 cybersecurity incidents from October 2013 to March 2015, according to a new report released last week.

Minnesota Bill Would End Coercive Consent Forms and Further Protect Patient Privacy

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Minnesota lawmakers yesterday advanced a bill that would ensure greater patient privacy protection by requiring patients to initial each item to which they are consenting on their health records at the doctor’s office, hospital or clinic—thus allowing patients to pick and choose exactly what information they would like to be shared between medical professionals and for what purposes, says Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org), which testified yesterday in support of the bill.

Oppose REAL ID: A Back Door to the National Patient Identifier

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has pushed for a “no card, no care” National Patient ID. Although the concept didn’t take off as she had hoped, state adoption of a federal REAL ID card could make her plan a reality. Twila Brase, president and co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org), says REAL ID could become a back-door approach to a National Patient ID.

Notice to Patients: Doctors and Hospitals Must Treat You Even If You Refuse to Sign the HIPAA ‘Privacy’ Form

ST. PAUL, Minn.—It’s certainly not a much-publicized fact, but patients are not required to sign the HIPAA “Privacy” Notice at their doctor’s office, hospital or clinic. And, medical professionals cannot refuse to treat patients who choose not to sign the form.

Supreme Court Ruling Is Win for Privacy;
 Limits Patient Data States Can Collect

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that certain states cannot collect insurance claims data from employers’ self-funded insurance plans, thus keeping patients’ medical information more private.

Justice Antonin Scalia’s Death Could Impact Supreme Court Patient Data Case

With the death earlier this month of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, many are wondering how the loss will impact several high-profile cases, including one that surrounds patient data.