Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the motion to recommit as it will destroy the intent of the bill. Eliminating the sharing of records for the purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations completely negates the entire purpose of this initiative. Aligning 42 CFR part 2 with HIPAA for purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations is the entire purpose of the legislation. Opponents of this bill have offered no evidence or findings to back up their claim that HIPAA is inadequate to protect sensitive data contained in substance use disorder treatment records. HIPAA is currently functioning well in protecting sensitive patient information in a number of areas. Real integration of behavioral health and primary care simply cannot happen until we align 42 CFR part 2 with HIPAA. The opposition of H.R. 6082 is not based on protecting privacy. It is based on very specific distrust of the healthcare community to properly provide care to people with substance use disorder--the very people whom we are asking to help us with this. Yet, the ranking member is strongly in favor of numerous bills that seek to expand access to evidence-based medication-assisted treatment, telehealth and integration with mainstream medicine--the very things that demand alignment with HIPAA. So the thinking, Mr. Speaker, to be kind, is incongruous.…”