Aug 23 2010
The New York Times: "The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after an outpouring of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress who say the rules do not adequately protect the rights of patients. Hospitals and insurance companies, seeking to maintain greater control over patient notification, generally support the rules. ...Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, issued temporary rules, with the force of law, in August last year. ... At the urging of the White House, Ms. Sebelius recently withdrew the rules to allow for further consideration. ... The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a watchdog group, estimates that more than five million people have been affected by breaches of medical information in the last 18 months. Causes include the theft of laptop computers, the loss of paper records, the posting of data on Web sites and the curiosity of hospital employees snooping for information on sports stars and other celebrities" (Pear, 8/22).
 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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