I submitted the following note to the WhiteHouse.Gov web site on Tuesday, August 18, 2009.

Somewhere mixed in with the healthcare debate is the inclusion of electronic health care records.  I have been in this industry for years and am aware of the rules, like HIPAA that apply to private business that holds patient protected health information.

If the government enters the healthcare arena as a payer, or provider, will they comply with all HIPAA and state privacy laws, or will they be exempted from those regulations and apply some special government-applied privacy protections.

I intend to publish the response to an industry group I am a member.  We meet this Thursday.

Thanks!

Today, 36 days later, I got a response directly from President Obama himself!  (By the way, his email address is noreply-WHPC@whitehouse.gov.)  His full reply is copied verbatim below:

Dear Friend:

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.  I have heard from countless Americans struggling to afford health insurance and health professionals striving to provide care.  I appreciate your perspective. 
     
      There is broad consensus among the American people on the need for affordable, high-quality health care.  The rising cost of health care is the most pressing financial challenge for families and for our Nation, and controlling this cost is essential to bringing down the Federal deficits we inherited.  We must end unfair insurance practices that leave millions of Americans without coverage, denying them access to care, and exposing them to extraordinary burdens.  And we should ensure that all small business employees have access to affordable, high-quality health plans so that we can make our economy--and our small businesses- -more competitive.  Now is the time to move forward, and I am working to get health insurance reform done this year. 

      Since I took office, we have done more to improve health care than we have in the previous decade.  In February, I signed H.R. 2 to provide coverage for millions of children through the Children's Health Insurance Program, and I signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to make key investments in computerized medical records and preventive services.
      
      Still, more must be done to lower costs, expand coverage, and improve the quality of health care.  My 2010 Budget makes a major down payment on health insurance reform by implementing efficiencies in government health care spending while improving the quality of care.  To help fulfill the debt we owe to our service men and women, it includes the largest proposed single-year increase in veterans funding in 30 years.  It expands health care coverage to an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013, implements technology that eases the transition from military care to veterans'  care, and enhances screening and treatment services for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

      Looking forward, there are tough choices to be made, and I will seek to bring employers and workers, health care providers and patients, and Democrats and Republicans together to create a system that delivers better care and puts the Nation on a sustainable, long-term fiscal path.  To learn more about my agenda or to share a personal story, please join me online at: www.health reform.gov.  For further information on health care and assistance that may be available to you, you may call 1-800- FEDINFO or visit:  www.usa.gov.

 I share the sense of urgency that millions of Americans have voiced.  I watched as my ailing mother struggled with stacks of insurance forms in the last moments of her life.  This is not who we are as a Nation; together, we will fix it.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

To be a part of our agenda for change, join us at www.WhiteHouse.gov

Apparently everyone who emails the White House is considered Mr. Obama's friend. I must be even more special because he said he appreciated my perspective.  Alas, he didn't even begin to address my question.  But he did offer the assurance that "together, we will fix it." 

Thanks, Mr Obama (and your staff) for completely ignoring my question.  I can only assume this is the type of customer service we can expect from your "public option".  If so, we certainly won't have to worry about your option unfairly competing with commercial insurers.  Even the worst insurance companies don't reply to customer requests with meaningless babble from their millionaire CEO about how his mother struggled with a stack of forms. 

If those forms were from her health insurer, some were probably related to HIPPA because commercial insurers care about patient privacy.  I assume since your healthcare plan intends to "fix it", we'll no longer be worried about pesky issues like privacy, authorized disclosures, and inappropriate data mining.

What we do have to worry about is the billions of taxpayer dollars that will get wasted on a government healthcare program run by the likes of the people who answer WhiteHouse.Gov requests.

ps: Mr. Obama, some of us "countless struggling Americans," even those who have been layed off from our jobs, still consider it our responsibility to care for our aging parents.  That sometimes means managing their paperwork and paying their bills.  This is who we are as a nation.  Perhaps you should learn more about us before you try to speak for us.