| Trampy |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 09/08/04 10:14 PM |
 Re: Can the government view your med records
|
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If the original question is taken literally, the answer is YES of course they can, if they are related to your SSN (and if you have insurance or use Medicare or Medicaid, they are) then without a doubt they can see them with the press of a button.
Legally? I am not a lawyer and don't want to get into the semantics of the Patriot Act and what it gives the law the authority to do to us, but I'd wager a dollar to a doughnut that the federal government could justify any nightmarish violation of civil liberties it wanted to right now, if they called you a terrorist.
Well then, can doctors get access to your medical records? Is there a national database? I was really naive until a couple of years ago about this. I thought that there was a single file of my records that grew as I got older, which got copied and sent to each new PCP I went to when I moved. I was shocked to find that this was my responsibility, and that most doctors just made me fill out a survey about my past medical history instead of even asking me about my previous PCPs or records. And when they've tried to get them, since I didn't remember the names or addresses of a lot of my docs (I move a lot), they couldn't really do it with just my name.
Has this changed?
Yes, it's changed a lot with HIPAA. Anyone with your medical information (doctors, pharmacies, HMOs, and insurance companies) now have a much harder time giving out your medical information to anyone but feds citing national security or to law enforcement claiming a criminal investigation. If they violate your privacy by giving out records without your permission (or fail to give you your own records on request), they can all face stiff fines if you file a HIPAA complaint with HHS.
The only national database of medical records is the Medical Information Bureau (MIB). Every doctor visit or prescription paid for with health insurance is logged there. Every doctor's visit is given one or more standardized diagnosis or treatment codes. You can't get an individual health policy without giving the insurance company permission to get all your MIB records. All it takes is one prescription or diagnosis code for depression or hypertension and the cost of getting health coverage goes way up. Some diagnosis codes make it practically impossible to purchase disability insurance. The self-employed all face this problem if they want to buy health insurance on their own. If you don't want it in the MIB, then just pay cash.
