Grits and Grana: Daschole

So apparently we are going to have a National Coordinator of Health Information Technology as part of the new “stimulus” bill that just passed the senate. The provision is the handiwork of Tom Daschle and his cronies. The job will entail establishing a national database of patient information that will allow doctors and health professionals access to your records. In theory this is designed to allow for more efficient health care, lower costs, and less unnecessary treatments. Wow…those sure do seem like good goals to have. I definitely pay too much for health care and I think it could be a good thing if that didn’t happen anymore. Hmmm…I wonder what the catch might be…well lets just see. Oh here it is the federal government is going to help “guide” medical decisions (pg 442) by your health care provider. Hmmm…where is the job creation here? Oh wait, it’s the creation of a bueracracy that is going to tell doctors when treatments are necessary or not. Well that seems like a perfect solution. I mean we saw how well the government bueracracy did with Katrina and how they handled fannie mae and Freddie mac. What could possibly go wrong?

You will all need to forgive my astounding disbelief that this ridiculousness is in the bill in the first place. Regardless of that fact, its still a pretty crazy idea. We have 300+ million people in this country and by 2014 we are supposed to have a database with the health records of ALL of them. Given the electronic security nightmare that databases like those are…how are we, the people, supposed to feel about our medical privacy. Since when is it the governments job to check in on the care that we are receiving and paying for. If they want to check in on the standards of care for medicare and Medicaid patients…that’s certainly their business, because they pay for it they can look into whatever they want. As far as the arraignment goes between myself, my insurer, and my doctor…they should play NO part. My doctor and I should be the sole people responsible for the care I receive. Clearly unnecessary procedures should be illegal and the doctors prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law under existing insurance fraud statutes but other than those cases…the government should stay out. I know its 2009 but its starting to feel a bit like 1984. Which reminds me that at some point, I will write an entire blog post in newspeak. I figure if I start working on it now…I might be done by the time the national health database is finished. Patrick OUT!!!

What I’m Listening To: Coldplay