This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------A339F3A63E28459EEA0FCA9C Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --------------A339F3A63E28459EEA0FCA9C Content-Type: message/rfc822; name="nsmail6" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="nsmail6" >From nobody@columbia.lp.org Sun Apr 1 11:38:47 2001 Return-Path: <nobody@columbia.lp.org> Received: from columbia.lp.org (columbia.kia.net [205.252.89.231]) by www.locnet.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA32338 for <chiperon@locnet.net>; Sun, 1 Apr 2001 11:38:46 -0500 Received: (from nobody@localhost) by columbia.lp.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA73065; Sun, 1 Apr 2001 12:31:25 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from nobody) Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 12:31:25 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <200104011631.MAA73065@columbia.lp.org> To: Janalee Garn <jjgarn@email.msn.com> Subject: URGENT: Online Petition for Privacy! From: Janalee Garn <jjgarn@email.msn.com> X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 -------------------------------------------------------------- How would you like a prospective employer to know if you have a "genetic predisposition" to a getting a serious -- and expensive -- illness? What if an acquaintance who worked for an insurance company or government agency could read the private notes of your psychotherapist, or find out if you or a family member have ever undergone drug or alcohol treatment? Would you want others to know whether you've ever had an abortion or been treated for an embarrassing disease? All of those things could happen if a regulation being considered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services goes into effect. I'm participating in an Internet campaign to kill this regulation, and I'm inviting you to join me. If we generate enough e-mail, we can bury this awful regulation. But we need to hurry -- because the it's scheduled to go into effect April 14, which is just two weeks away. Please read this short background news item, and forward this message to any friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or other people you know who may be interested. Then go to http://www.defendyourprivacy.com and sign the petition. It will be submitted directly to your representative in the U.S. House and to both your U.S. Senators. BACKGROUND: By April 14, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson must decide whether to implement the "medical privacy" rules submitted in the waning days of the Clinton administration. The rules, published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2000, mandate that every doctor and health care provider turn patient records over to the HHS and other federal agencies for "safekeeping" -- regardless of whether patients consent. The government could then share those records with third parties such as insurance companies, private marketers, and even police agencies. The result? Soon millions of government bureaucrats, clerks in insurance companies, HMO's and even drug marketing companies will have access to your confidential medical records without your permissio