John Joseph Moakley: “As a physician, I am particularly concerned with the section of this bill that many may not have had a chance to study.…”

“As a physician, I am particularly concerned with the section of this bill that many may not have had a chance to study. Buried within the 300-plus pages of this bill is a 29-page section called 'Administrative simplification.' Now, 'administrative simplification' has a nice right to it, but let me tell you why everyone concerned with the future of health care in this country should oppose the inclusion of this section in any health care reform bill. First of all, section 1173 on page 222 forces a physician to reveal confidential patient information for billing purposes. The bill says 'The Secretary shall adopt standards for transactions and data elements for such transactions to enable health information to be exchanged electronically.' This bill sets up electronic clearinghouses for all the health care administration information in this country. Now, among the transactions that doctors will be forced to make, on page 223, it says 'Claims or equivalent encounter information.' This will require doctors to submit not just general information, but personal, private information that patients need to disclose to their doctors. Next, this bill fails to adequately protect the privacy of patient health information, which is vital if you are going to have good quality care in this country.”