Henry Waxman: “we should not pass H.R. 4157 without including essential privacy protections for the health information of American…”

“we should not pass H.R. 4157 without including essential privacy protections for the health information of American consumers. Privacy protection should go hand-in-hand with efforts to promote health information technology, yet the Republican leadership refused to include appropriate privacy protections or allow consideration of privacy amendments. Our health care system will not be effective if privacy fears deter Americans from seeking appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, survey after survey demonstrates that American consumers lack confidence that the privacy of their personal health information will be protected. Just last year, the California Health Care Foundation found that nearly two-thirds of Americans polled were concerned about the privacy of their health information, and one out of eight had taken steps that could have put their health at risk simply because of privacy concerns. Moving health records into electronic form is only likely to increase their fears unless we act to ensure appropriate privacy protections are in place. Recent incidents involving security threats to medical information have underscored the vulnerability of electronically maintained data. In June, we learned that Medicare data on 17,000 beneficiaries enrolled in a Medicare prescription drug plan had been put at risk due to inappropriate security protections on a computer file.…”