AHA FAX UPDATE - Taking Aim on Advocacy 
Contact: Debra Samuels 202-626-4629 

GRASSROOTS ACTION ALERT! 

A recess push for HIPAA relief 

Contact your senators and representatives when they're home and ask them to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter on Capitol Hill urging the administration to: 

Fix and fund HIPAA's privacy rule 

Your legislators are home next week for the Memorial Day recess---a terrific opportunity for you to contact them about signing the "Dear Colleague" letter on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) medical privacy rule. The letter calls on the administration to fix and fund HIPAA's medical privacy rule. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Cal Dooley (D-CA), and Sens. Michael Crapo (R-ID) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are asking their colleagues to sign the letter that will be sent soon to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. 

Your charge: Contact your legislators while they're home for the holiday. Get them to commit to signing the letter when they return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 5. Check http://www.aha.org/hipaa and it will take you to the HIPAA "What's New" section for the latest list of representatives and senators who have signed the letter. 

What can happen if this rule isn't fixed? A nurse walking by a patient in distress could be denied access to the medical record, because he's not her patient and doctors could be reluctant to discuss treatment with patients in the ER for fear of being overheard by nearby patients or families and friends and hospitals would waste tens of thousands of dollars—that could be used for patient care—to renegotiate a slew of contracts. 

Personal advocacy from those of you on the front lines of health care will be key to our success in persuading the administration to fix and fund the privacy rule. To make that happen, your lawmakers need to sign the Hill letter.