genetic registries | The PPJ Gazette

PART 1 CCHC Minnesota mailto:twila@cchconline.org

Bargaining for Power in Health Care “Reform” Bill

While it is of little use to spend all one’s time at the long

and long-winded conference committee meetings, it is

good to gather intel every once and awhile as we move to

what will hopefully be a veto of SF 3099 by the Governor.

Health Plan and other lobbyists today told CCHC that the Super Broker is still in the bill, along with myriad other bad stuff, like the bureaucratic, all-controlling Health Care Transformation Commission and payment reform, which is essentially the imposition of price controls. We understand that Sen. Berglin wants the Super Broker for the purpose of transferring subsidy program funds from the State to the health plans.

However, it’s clear that nobody else wants the Super Broker. One lobbyist told me, in so many words (paraphrased): “Nobody wants it. The Chamber of Commerce doesn’t want it, the Governor’s office says they no longer need it, the insurance agents don’t want it. Why is it in the bill still?”

At which point, CCHC suggested that it’s being used merely as a bargaining chip by the Senate author, Sen. Linda Berglin, with the Governor. The lobbyist concurred…perhaps the Senator is using it to get the financial/budget issues to slide in her direction. That’s one good reason the Governor shouldn’t put anything in the bill he might not want to become law.

On the other hand, one seasoned lobbyist said that a policy bill (SF 3099) is unlikely to be signed into law. That would be good news, but there’s no guarantee, so remind your legislators and the Governor what you think of the “Super Broker” proposal. The cast and crew of two off-season committees (the Governor’s Health Care Transformation Task Force and the Legislative Health Care Access Committee) meant it when they proposed these ideas. They want them to become law. Governor Pawlenty is all that stands in the way of the Super Broker and socialized medicine.

Will Your Private Medical Records be “Dumped” into the Hands of Government?

In 2002, the public became outraged when CCHC exposed the Minnesota Department of Health proposed rules to require every health plan and every hospital to ship all the private details of your private medical records to the government. It made front page news, and the rule was dropped several months later after well-publicized legislative hearings. That said, the 1995 LAW allowing Health Department access to all your medical records still exists, a point we’re never going to let be forgotten.

Now, the health care reform bill, SF 3099, proposes to require all health plans to ship your private medical records (right down to all the details of each encounter between patient and doctor) to the Health Care Transformation Commission, a $12 million “super agency”of political appointees, for data mining, analysis, and anything else they choose to use it for…now and in the future.

Proponents of rationing and price controls could use your data to propose certain types of people not receive care, or to propose legislative and other policies that target individuals for intervention strategies, including in the future, genetic manipulation. Don’t forget to sign our petition against Minnesota’s DNA warehouse, genetic registries and unconsented genetic research. (Please do not sign it twice. Thank you.)

Let legislators and the Governor know what you think about SF 3099’s “Data Dump” (the sharing of your private medical”encounter data” with a group of political appointees).

Who to Call – Bill Busters!
1) Contact the Senators and Representatives that represent you.