> A bit earlier I posted on this topic. This is the outcome.
>Marta Russell
>
>> Wednesday, March 24, 1999 10:18 PM
>> Flood of E-Mail Credited With Halting U.S. Bank Plan
...and there's this, from Sam Smith's Progressive Review. I'm glad the impeachment crap is over so Sam's writing about other stuff now.
Doug
----
>UNDERNEWS
>By Sam Smith
>March 25, 1999
>
>The Progressive Review
>1739 Conn. Ave. NW Washington DC 20009
>202-232-5544 Fax: 202- 234-6222
>news at prorev.com
>http://prorev.com
>
>For a free trial subscription to our hard copy edition and e-mail updates
>send your postal address with zip code. To unsubscribe, reply with the word
>'unsubscribe.' Copyright 1999, The Progressive Review. Matter not
>independently copyrighted may be reprinted provided TPR is paid your normal
>reprint fees, if any, and is given proper credit.
>====================================================
>
>WORD
>
>"There are a lot of very brilliant people who believe that the nation-state
>is fast becoming a relic of the past." -- Bill Clinton, New York Times
>November 25, 1997
>
>NOW THAT I'VE TAKEN YOUR
>TEMPERATURE, TELL ME
>YOU WHAT POSITION YOU FAVOR
>
>The Clinton administration's appetite for private information about citizens
>is apparently insatiable. No sooner did its repugnant "Know Your Customer"
>plan for banks to spy on depositors get blocked, when word came that the
>Health Care Finance Administration has its own "Know Your Patient Plan."
>Patients getting home health care from a provider connected to Medicare will
>soon be asked about their sex life, self esteem, toilet habits, and suicidal
>tendencies. HCFA says it's just trying to prevent fraud.
>
>Patients will be allowed to not answer questions, in which case HCFA will
>rely on the providers' observations. According to Twila Brase, President of
>the Citizens' Council on Health Care, "If this is allowed to proceed, we
>expect to see federal officials using fraud and abuse prevention and
>system-wide cost containment to eventually [overrule] patient privacy in all
>areas, not just home health."
>
>Critics believe the plan violates the Privacy Act, gathers information
>unrelated to the running of the Medicare system, and is a violation of the
>Fourth Amendment.
>
>CITIZENS' COUNCIL ON HEALTH CARE
>http://www.cchc-mn.org