ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
Subcommittee on Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-3943
July 13, 1999
No. HL-8

Thomas Announces Hearing on Confidentiality of Health Information

Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on proposals to protect the confidentiality of patients' health care information. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, July 20, 1999, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

Section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (P.L. 104-191) required the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop policy recommendations with respect to the confidentiality of health information by August 1997. Specifically, the HIPAA mandate required that this new policy be designed to protect the privacy of personal health information that is transmitted electronically, in conjunction with one of the standardized health transactions established by HIPAA's administrative simplification provisions. Secretary Shalala submitted these recommendations to Congress in September of 1997. Under HIPAA, Congress has until August 21, 1999, to enact a privacy law. If Congress fails to enact a medical privacy law, the Secretary is then required to issue regulations within six months. The law provides that, if regulations are issued, they will not supercede stricter State privacy laws. The Subcommittee began its exploration of this issue with a hearing on March 24, 1998. At that meeting, Subcommittee members heard from a variety of private witnesses, as well as Dr. Don Detmer, then Chairman of the National Committee on Vital Health Statistics (NCHVS). The NCVHS advised the Secretary in the development of her policy recommendations.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "The importance of information to America's modern health care delivery system cannot be overstated. The rapid exchange of information B much of it personal in nature B is critical to the delivery of high quality care, the increasingly complex financing of care, and ongoing efforts to improve quality. Protecting the confidentiality and security of this information is even more important. Only by protecting the confidentiality of health information can we give patients the confidence they need to seek help, even for the most personal or sensitive of health issues. Data integrity and system security measures are critical to our ongoing efforts to improve health care outcomes and find new cures through the application of information technology to medical research. Today, every patient B including 38 million Medicare patients B benefits from the extensive use and exchange of information in our health system. However, our laws need to be updated to better protect the confidentiality and security of this information."

The hearing will focus on various aspects of the patient confidentiality issue that have been raised by the Secretary's recommendations to Congress and by other laws . The Subcommittee will receive testimony from several public agency representatives and from a variety of private sector witnesses representing different perspectives from within the health care system.

Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, August 3, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Health office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.

Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.

4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.

The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.