CNS News reported yesterday that the electonic healthcare records provision in the stimulus bill which requires that a patient's BMI (Body Mass Index) be included in the electonic records (see rightwinggranny article of July 16), allows that certain other information be omitted.
According to the article:
"Dr. David Blumenthal, the Obama administration's National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said on Tuesday that patients can choose to omit procedures such as abortions and positive HIV tests from the electronic health records (EHR) that every American is supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the economic stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year."
The article further states:
"The "incentive program" Garrett (Peter Garrett, the spokesman for HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology) refers to is the system of bonus payments the government will make to health care providers that implement EHRs by 2014. Garrett did not mention the penalty system that diminishes a health-care provider's Medicare and Medicaid payments if it does not comply with the EHR mandate by 2014. As the January 13, 2010 edition of the Federal Register noted: "Section 1848(a)(7) of the Act provides that beginning in CY 2015, EPs who are not meaningful users of certified EHR technology will receive less than 100 percent of the fee schedule for their professional services.""
It is time to put the brakes on government intrusion into our private lives. If BMI has to be recorded electronically, why doesn't all other information have to be included? This isn't even a part of Obamacare--it's part of the federal stimulus program--another result of a huge bill that was passed without anyone thoroughly reading it and understanding what the unintended consequences of passing it would be.
It is time to vote out of Congress any member of who supported healthcare or the stimulus bill and do anything possible to undo the damage caused by both. If you value your freedom and privacy, look up the voting records of your Senators and Congressmen and vote accordingly.
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