Senators Take Aim at Proposed ID System

Citing privacy concerns, a bipartisan coalition of senators is moving to repeal a requirement for a national identification system--most likely a number--to track every American’s medical history.

The repeal proposal was introduced Friday by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and co-sponsored by Sens. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), Conrad R. Burns (R-Mont.) and Spencer Abraham (D-Mich.) but got scant attention in the wake of the deadly Capitol shootings that afternoon.

The proposed ID system was a little-noticed provision of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability Act, which requires insurers to offer medical coverage to those who need new insurance as a result of job changes.

The law requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a system--referred to as “unique medical identifiers”--for electronically transmitting health data as a way to aid the statute’s implementation.

But as awareness of the identification proposal has grown, it has come under attack from an array of privacy experts and conservative organizations, including the American Medical Assn.

They warn that the most intimate details of a person’s medical history could become available to insurance companies, employers and savvy Internet hackers.

With the introduction of the repeal proposal, lawmakers have officially joined the attack.

“Congress is playing the legislative equivalent of a game of chicken,” Leahy said. “It is irresponsible to expose patients to this massive new erosion of their privacy. The impetus to computerize medical records for the sake of efficiency cannot be allowed to overrun our basic privacy.”

Under the 1996 law, the health identifiers could be codes, numbers or some other method of identifying a person for a lifetime. The medical ID would become the second national identification system, after Social Security.

The National Committee on Vital Health Statistics, which is advising federal officials on the creation of the medical ID system, held a hearing on the controversy last week in Chicago.

Although Leahy fought against such a system two years ago, the provision creating it was included in the insurance portability law at the insistence of the House of Representatives.

Backers of the ID number say it could help physicians treat patients--especially in emergencies--and help insurers keep track of claims.

The debate comes amid increasing congressional focus on privacy issues, particularly with the growth of the Internet.

A number of bills have been introduced to restrict the flow of personal information on the World Wide Web, including banning credit card bureaus from releasing personal data and requiring Internet service providers to get a client’s permission before releasing information about that person.