While peaceful demonstrators stood on the steps of our state capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in solidarity over the sanctity of life, a very different story was happening under their noses as lawmakers met to discuss the Minnesota Insurance Exchange (part of Obamacare).
Attending that meeting I noted a certain frenzy to pass the “data” section out of committee by the Democrat members — without any legal guidelines for the appeals process for eligibility and determination or any money available to maintain it.
The money for the exchange would come from withholding up to 3.5 percent of our insurance premiums and as for any appeals, we were told to just trust the government.
There was confusion as to what private information would be required. However, that confusion doesn’t really matter because last May section HHS 153.340 dealing with Obamacare went into effect. Medical record databases will be developed to implement what policy experts call “risk adjustment methodologies,” under the guise that health risk factors be distributed across the insurance pool.
The state, or HHS, will be collecting our medical records. Where did doctor patient confidentiality go? Where’s HIPAA? The type of information to be confiscated include individual diagnoses, the type of care provided, the names of the health-care providers seen, dollars paid, out-of-pocket liabilities, demographic data and encrypted Social Security number.
HHS claims our records will be de-identified and researchers will be allowed access. I question what the intent of the research is.
Allowing such a database to be created could be a back door to greater government control. Collection of our medical records has nothing to do with insuring the uninsured.
Our state leaders need to take a close look at what is good for Minnesotans. The folks in St. Paul need to stop the Minnesota Insurance Exchange in its tracks.
Jan Skjolsvik,
Fifty Lakes
Comments (9)
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Echo: fix your messed up software!!
The Affordable Care Act is unstoppable at this point
Despite extremely aggressive, dishonest and destructive efforts to sabotage it, the Affordable Care Act is unstoppable at this point, especially after the unsuccessful Supreme Court challenge. Like the strong opposition when Medicare was first introduced in the 1960s, such as calling it socialist, etc, once Americans saw the obvious common sense advantages of it, the vast majority of Americans accepted it as the right thing to do.
In a few years, Obamacare will be looked back upon the same way.
Once people take Obamacare for granted, it will be expanded
For example, hardly anyone (except the radical fringe nimrods who post here) will look back in a few years, and say that the requirement not to exclude those with pre-existing conditions was bad policy. The same thing goes for the law that requires irresponsible people, like Jaysoffhisrocker who said he has no health insurance, who choose to freeload off the government and the rest of us who have medical insurance to pay the "premiums" for their major medical coverage.
"Obamacare" is just a start. Once people realize it was the right thing to do, it will likely be expanded. After all, it is simply immoral for the richest country in the world not to have universal access to healthcare. Other civilized counties correctly consider it a right of citizenship.
Too late to derail it completely, so they try to piece by piece
Of course some aspects of Obamacare will need to be adjusted, modified or even reversed. Realizing that it is too late for the radical right to completely derail it, their strategy is now to sabotage it one piece at a time. Remember, the radicalized Republican Party Platform is to make Obama and the Democrats fail through nearly 100% sabotage and obstruction. They are invested in our country's failure.
I think Jan Skjolsvik has a point about the data privacy aspect of our medical records, but there absolutely is a compelling need to use our medcal records for medical research and research into ways to better control costs.
Really Nutty?Your beloved
Really Nutty?
Your beloved Government is going to force working people to pay for other peoples med bills or go to jail.
Sounds like Communism to me but thats what you Liberals want. Get the guns then start taking money hard working people EARN and disperse it as your beloved Government see's fit.
Not me!
It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.
Thomas Sowell
Still frothing at the mouth with selective outrage
at any critisism of "THE ONE" s massive tax grab. the leftwing extremists show their true colors
Poor Nutz.
Back to bed, sleepy!
You would appear far more intelligent if you were asleep, Sleepy.
Poor Fringe extremist Nutz
after all these years you're still as clever as you were as a child, that fits considering your childlike idealism.
Sleeper has more sense asleep
Sleeper has more sense asleep than Nutty has awake!