[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               THE HEALTH CARE PRIVACY AND PROTECTION ACT

  Mr. WOFFORD. Madam President, as my colleagues are aware, the Labor 
and Human Resources Committee, of which I am a member, began its mark-
up of comprehensive health reform legislation earlier today. This is 
the work Pennsylvanians set me to Washington to do, and I am anxious to 
move the process forward in a bipartisan fashion that seeks to find the 
highest common ground, not the lowest common denominator.
  An important factor in maintaining public trust in a reformed health 
care system is assuring the privacy of every American's medical 
information. The future of health care in this country will involve the 
rapid exchange of information through electronic data networks. Without 
proper protections, information about patient medical conditions and 
treatments could become more susceptible to abuse and improper 
disclosure. That's why it is so important that health reform 
legislation safeguard individual rights to privacy and confidentiality.
  I am happy today to cosponsor the Health Care Privacy and Protection 
Act, introduced by Senator Leahy. I commend Senator Leahy for 
introducing this bill and for the important contribution his hard work 
has made to the health care reform movement.
  This bill sets down a marker for the type of safeguards we need to 
guarantee that every American's medical data will be kept private and 
confidential, except in very specific circumstances. It also gives 
individuals the right to know what information about them exists, how 
it is being used, and whether it is accurate.
  Another positive aspect of Senator Leahy's legislation is that it 
resolves concerns about the privacy of personal medical records right 
at the beginning. That is better than the Clinton approach which would 
have a board recommend standards for privacy 3 years down the road. 
Today's existing information systems already make patient medical 
information vulnerable to misuse and with no uniform safeguards. We 
must act immediately to address this situation and to ensure that once 
health reform is fully implemented, these protections are completely in 
place.
  Again, I commend Senator Leahy for this bill and offer my support. 
Americans will rest much easier knowing that health reform will not 
mean compromising their fundamental right to privacy.

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