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PRIVACY NEWS UPDATE
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You are receiving this update because you registered at
http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com, the site that was instrumental in killing the FDIC's Know Your Customer regulation in 1999. We are writing to update you about our campaign to stop the new HHS
"medical privacy rule," which would allow the government to seize control over your private medical records and transfer
them to third parties. However, if you do not want to receive further updates, please use the unsubscribe directions at the end of this message.

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Bush ignores comments and quietly imposes rule; privacy advocates pin hopes on House resolution


Dear Friends:

We have bad news and good news to report regarding our e-mail campaign for medical privacy.

First the bad news: In a surprise move, President Bush has quietly decided that the HHS regulations will start going
into effect on Saturday, April 14. According to an article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, Bush has quietly decided
"against any further delays in implementing" the Clinton-era rules.

You may have noticed that the Bush ruling, which the Journal said "stunned industry lobbyists," got very little
publicity. That's the way Bush wanted it, because he and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson know that the public is becoming alarmed at the government's attempt to seize control over medical records and turn them over to "third parties."

Bush's maneuver comes despite the fact that:

* On Monday, Thompson admitted that he had been inundated with over 24,000 letters commenting on the rules and
needed more time "to assimilate the written documents." Thompson
claimed he wanted a 60-day delay to allow time to change the rules before imposing them. Oddly, Thompson made no mention of the Bush decision, which was also made on Monday, according to
the Journal.

* The regulations were originally written by the Clinton administration under the guidance of then-HHS Secretary Donna
Shalala.

* Industry groups had warned that the new regulations could cost the health-care system up to $18 billion over 10
years.

* Most important, more than 60,000 people have flooded the federal government with comments over the past 30 days. As of Thursday at 4:15pm, 43,975 people had signed the pro-privacy
petition to Congress located at http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com.
Combined with the 24,000 comments mailed to the HHS, that means that the opinions of over 67,000 Americans have now been brushed aside by the Bush administration. (A White House spokesman that Thompson will "work to modify the rules" over the next few
months, but doing so will be much harder once the rules are put in place.)

But the most dangerous aspect of this regulation -- and the one most overlooked in news reports -- is that for the first
time the government, rather than patients and doctors, would be in complete control of private medical records. That's because the regulation requires doctors and hospitals to share all electronic medical records with the government for a variety of vague purposes, such as to "streamline medical billing procedures" or for "public health surveillance." Then the
government, rather than individual patients, will decide who gets to see them.

Not surprisingly, the government promises to keep your medical records confidential. But keep in mind that this is the same government that once promised to keep your Social Security number confidential. The same government whose IRS employees illegally rifle through Americans' tax returns. The same
government whose FBI agents illegally turned over 4,000 confidential personnel files to the White House.

Sadly, the only way to truly protect your medical records is to make sure the government doesn't have them. And that's why Bush's sudden decision is so disappointing.

Now here's the good news: There is still one way these rules can still be stopped, whether Bush and Thompson like it or
not. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has introduced a resolution, HJR 38, which declares that the rules "shall have no force or effect." Under federal law, this resolution would make the HHS
regulation null and void -- but only if it passes the House and Senate within 60 legislative days. In other words, if we can
generate enough Congressional support for HJR 38 by about June 15, Bush's directive would become irrelevant.

And there's good reason for optimism: According to reports by Reuters news service and The Washington Post, Thompson has come under heavy pressure from "industry groups and
lawmakers" who are worried about the regulations.

Translation: Our e-mail campaign has grabbed the attention of Congress, which in turn grabbed the attention of Thompson. At this point, House representatives have been inundated with an average of 101 e-mails each from
http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com -- and that's far too many to ignore.

No wonder Americans are worried. This regulation, which was published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2000,
would:

* Give dozens of government agencies and thousands of bureaucrats access to your medical records -- including the
private notes of a psychotherapist -- without your consent.

* Assign every American a "unique patient identifier," whether you want one or not, by working in conjunction with the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The number would be similar to a Social Security number for medical transactions -- and would make accessing an individual's medical
records as easy as running a credit check.

* Permit police agencies to access medical records without a search warrant.

* Let government agencies share your records with marketing companies. The rules specifically allow pharmacies to
share prescription records "for the purpose of marketing health- related products and services" without your consent.

* Allow private insurance companies to compile the medical information into a database.

* Prevent patients involved in health research projects from accessing their own medical records in some cases.

Now that the Bush administration has issued its anti-privacy decree, it's time to concentrate our efforts on HJR 38.

If we can hit Congress with another big wave of e-mail over the next 60 days, we might be able to force the government
to pull the plug on the regulation permanently. Our strategy is to let politicians know that they will be held accountable on Election Day if they refuse to dismantle this regulation.

Sadly, unelected bureaucrats like Tommy Thompson may not care what you think; after all, you can't fire them. But you can
fire your Congressional representative -- so they *have to care* what you think.

Now it's time to let your House representative know, loud and clear, that you're opposed to any attempt to turn your private medical records over to the government and third parties -- and that you want the HHS medical privacy rule killed.

Please visit http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com
immediately. With the click of a button, you can ask your Congressional representative to support Joint House Resolution 38, which would pull the plug on this regulation once and for all.

Then circulate this e-mail to your friends and refer them to the site.

Thank you again for your support of
http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com