HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, July 21, 1998
1998 Ron Paul 82:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce
the Patient Privacy Act, which repeals those
sections of the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 authorizing the
establishment of a “standard unique health
care identifier” for all Americans. This identifier
would then be used to create a national database
containing the medical history of all
Americans. Establishment of such an identifier
would allow federal bureaucrats to track every
citizen’s medical history from cradle to grave.
Furthermore, it is possible that every medical
professional, hospital, and Health Maintenance
Organization (HMO) in the country would be
able to access an individual citizens’ record
simply by entering the patient’s identifier into
the national database.
1998 Ron Paul 82:2 As an OB/GYN with more than 30 years experience
in private practice, I know better than
most the importance of preserving the sanctity
of the physician-patient relationship. Oftentimes,
effective treatment depends on a patient’s
ability to place absolute trust in his or
her doctor. What will happen to that trust
when patients know that any and all information
given their doctor will be placed in a data
base accessible by anyone who knows the patient’s
“unique personal identifier?”
1998 Ron Paul 82:3 I ask my colleagues, how comfortable would
you be confiding any emotional problem, or
even an embarrassing physical problem like
impotence, to your doctor if you knew that this
information could be easily accessed by
friend, foe, possible employers, coworkers,
HMOs, and government agents?
1998 Ron Paul 82:4 Mr. Speaker, the Clinton administration has
even come out in favor of allowing law enforcement
officials access to health care information,
in complete disregard of the fifth
amendment. It is bitterly ironic that the same
administration that has proven so inventive at
protecting its privacy has so little respect for
physician-patient confidentiality.
1998 Ron Paul 82:5 Many of my colleagues will admit that the
American people have good reason to fear a
government-mandated health ID card, but they
will claim such problems can be “fixed” by additional
legislation restricting the use of the
identifier and forbidding all but certain designated
persons to access those records.
1998 Ron Paul 82:6 This argument has two flaws. First of all,
history has shown that attempts to protect the
privacy of information collected by, or at the
command, of the government are ineffective at
protecting citizens from the prying eyes of
government officials. I ask my colleagues to
think of the numerous cases of IRS abuses
that were brought to our attention in the past
few months, the history of abuse of FBI files,
and the case of a Medicaid clerk in Maryland
who accessed a computerized database and
sold patient names to an HMO. These are just
some of many examples that show that the
only effective way to protect privacy is to forbid
the government from assigning a unique
number to any citizen.
1998 Ron Paul 82:7 The second, and most important reason,
legislation “protecting” the unique health identifier
is insufficient is that the federal government
lacks any constitutional authority to force
citizens to adopt a universal health identifier,
regardless of any attached “privacy protections.”
Any federal action that oversteps constitutional
limitations violates liberty for it ratifies
the principle that the federal government,
not the Constitution, is the ultimate arbitrator
of its own jurisdiction over the people. The
only effective protection of the rights of citizens
is for Congress and the American people
to follow Thomas Jefferson’s advice and “bind
(the federal government) down with the chains
of the Constitution.”
1998 Ron Paul 82:8 For those who claim that the Patient Privacy
Act would interfere with the plans to “simplify”
and “streamline” the health care system,
under the Constitution, the rights of people
should never take a backseat to the convenience
of the government or politically powerful
industries like HMOs.
1998 Ron Paul 82:9 Mr. Speaker, the federal government has no
authority to endanger the privacy of personal
medical information by forcing all citizens to
adopt a uniform health identifier for use in a
national data base. A uniform health ID endangers
the constitutional liberties, threatens
the doctor-patient relationships, and could
allow federal officials access to deeply personal
medical information. There can be no
justification for risking the rights of private citizens.
I therefore urge my colleagues to join
me in supporting the Patient Privacy Act.
Notes:
1998 Ron Paul 82:1
an individual citizens’ probably should be
an individual citizen’s.
1998 Ron Paul 82:4
fifth amendment probably should be capitalized:
Fifth Amendment.
