"The required collection of such data is unprecedented. At no other time has the government sought to collect this type of financial information from everyone in America."
Here’s a little tidbit I stumbled across recently. Apparently, the health care bill has a provision buried in it that would give government access to our credit card and bank balances.
Buried in the 1,017 pages of the House Democrats’ health-care bill is a little-noticed provision that for the first time could give the government access to the checking or credit-card information of every American. Under section 163, which is entitled “Administrative Simplification,” the bill sets new “standards” for electronic transactions between individuals and their health-care providers.
According to section 163, the standards will “enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service . . . ” In addition, they will “enable electronic funds transfers, in order to allow automated reconciliation with related health care payment and remittance advice.”
What is envisioned is a “machine-readable health plan beneficiary card” that, in addition to information about a person’s medical history, will contain checking-account or credit-card information, so as to allow electronic payments and, if a person is lucky, occasional remittances. Since under the proposed legislation everyone would be required to have health insurance, all Americans would have to provide this information.
The required collection of such data is unprecedented. At no other time has the government sought to collect this type of financial information from everyone in America.
Yet another little landmine buried in this monstrosity. I wonder how many more things like this are buried where nobody has seen them yet?
This is more than a little disturbing. There is no reason why checks, cash, and/or credit cards aren’t good enough to pay for health services received, and the government certainly doesn’t need access to this information. In this country, financial information has been considered a private feature of our lives that government must obtain specific warrants to access.
And it should remain that way.
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