Contact Congress About 3 Critical Health Care Matters While They Are Home for Recess
Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom: Lawmakers Must be Contacted About National Patient ID, Surprise Medical Bills and Genetic Research
ST. PAUL, Minn.—Even though Congress could be called back from the August recess to address gun measures after the devastating shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) is urging state residents to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives about three important health care issues.
“When citizens are aware of proposed health care policies that will affect their daily lives, it is important they contact their elected officials,” said CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase. “Members of Congress won’t return to Washington until September 9. Americans should take time now to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives on three troubling proposals.”
Brase and CCHF are encouraging Americans to learn more about each of these issues and communicate with their legislators while they are in local communities on recess.
- National Patient ID
What: The House Appropriations bill repeals the 20-year prohibition against funding and development of a Unique Patient Identifier (UPI; aka National Patient ID), which would be used for the tracking of patients and linking of medical records. It would also be required to access medical care—or “no card, no care.”
Why Oppose: National ID numbers open the door to national health care and a national medical record system.
Ask: Keep the ban on creating a UPI/National Patient ID in place.
- “Lower Health Care Costs” Act
Senate Bill 1895, which addresses surprise medical bills, includes two major components:
- Surveillance of the Exam Room
What: Creates a massive federal database to regularly collect and store private medical data on all patients (All-Payer Claims Database (APCD)).
Why Oppose: Patient data will be sent to the government by insurers and can be shared with “employers, employee organizations, researchers and policymakers.”
Ask: Oppose the All-Payer Claims database and delete Section 303 in its entirety.
- Federal Price Controls
What: Sets price controls on out-of-network doctors and facilities, forcing them to accept prices set by a government-mandated process (arbitration or benchmarking).
Why Oppose: Higher prices, reduced patient access to medical care and government intrusion in private business. Price controls also advance a single-payer system.
Ask: Oppose mandated benchmarking and arbitration. Instead, repeal the Affordable Care Act ban on catastrophic indemnity “go-anywhere” insurance. Let states solve “surprise billing.”
- Genetic Research on Citizens Without Consent
What: H.R. 2507 allows research, including genomic sequencing, on citizens using DNA collected during newborn screening—which is stored by states without parent consent (Sec. 8). It creates a national newborn screening surveillance system (Sec 5).
Why Oppose: Citizens become subjects of surveillance and research, starting at birth.
Ask: Oppose surveillance system and unconsented research using newborn DNA.
CCHF outlines three easy steps to start a conversation with legislators about these matters:
STEP 1: Visit the CCHF website to download and print a one-page document detailing the three issues.
STEP 2: Find contact information for local Senators and Representatives.
STEP 3: Choose a mode of communication: an email message with the CCHF fact sheet outlining the three issues attached (copy info@cchfreedom.org on the email), a phone call to explain your concerns or a physical mailing including a note and the fact sheet—or all three.
Brase writes about these issues, along with many others in her award-winning book, “Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records,” which also addresses socialized medicine and the federal HIPAA “no-privacy” rule (Section IV), as well as exposes how the mandated, government-certified electronic health record technology has negatively affected doctors and patients. Learn more at www.BigBrotherintheExamRoom.com.
Learn more about CCHF at www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. Also view the media page for CCHF here. For more about CCHF’s initiative The Wedge of Health Freedom, visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom.
###
