Posted on 04/26/2013 5:55:18 AM PDT by pabianice
(GunNews.com) — Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has initiated a rulemaking process “to remove unnecessary legal barriers” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule that may prevent states from reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is the database that houses information on individuals prohibited by law from possessing firearms.
This is one of the 23 executive actions the President announced in January.
“Through the public comment process, we will use the data and information provided by states, health providers, patient advocates and others to determine how best to remove unnecessary barriers to NICS reporting while protecting patient privacy,” Sebelius said in an April 19 HHS release.
The NICS was created by the Brady Act and ensures that guns are not sold to those prohibited by law from buying them, including felons, those convicted of domestic violence, and individuals involuntarily committed to a mental institution or found to be a danger or unable to manage their affairs due to a mental health condition.
According to a 2012 Government Accountability Office report, 17 states had submitted fewer than 10 records of individuals prohibited for mental health reasons.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) plans to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to ask for the public’s input on how HIPAA may prevent some states from reporting to the NICS and ways in which these barriers can be addressed without discouraging individuals from seeking mental health services.
“In order to protect our children and communities, we must ensure that information on potentially dangerous individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms is available to the background check system,” said Secretary Sebelius.
“Through the public comment process, we will use the data and information provided by states, health providers, patient advocates and others to determine how best to remove unnecessary barriers to NICS reporting while protecting patient privacy,” said OCR Director Leon Rodriguez.
The database that houses non-criminal justice information on individuals prohibited from possessing firearms for reasons related to mental health – called the NICS Index – does not contain medical or mental health records.
If an individual is prohibited from purchasing a firearm due to specific mental health reasons as set by law, the following information is submitted to the NICS: (1) basic identifying information about the individual such as name, social security number, and date of birth, (2) the name of the state or federal agency that submitted the information, and (3) a notation on which of the ten prohibited categories is applicable to the individual, which allows the individual to appeal and seek to correct incomplete or inaccurate information if needed.
When federally licensed firearms dealers request a NICS background check for a potential buyer, the only information they get back is that the potential buyer is approved, denied, or additional investigation is needed. The dealer does not receive any information about why an individual is denied and does not ever have access to any records of potential buyers, including health records.
The ANPRM will be available for review.
When my doc tries this one, my comment will be I don’t want him running interference from that SOB in the whitehouse. If the SOB wants an answer, he can appear directly in front of me and ask for it. Otherwise, I have no answer.
Washington County - what state?
Mark Harmon is the last person you want to see your medical records ...
Executive Orders are only applicable to the Executive Branch of the Government they have no bearing on all of America - keep that in mind . The intent of this is only to get it into the courts as it is an unconstitutional power grab. American people are not subservient to the Executive Branch.
That would be applied to everyone—not only Obamacare recipients.
What you said!
"I don't know?" WTF - Why say that? Have them say NO!
Human nature being the way it is, saying "No" will get the right box checked, and that will be it. Any other answer will require follow-up questions later.
MY GD [8 y/o at the time] replied....*Not that I would notice,* when asked about guns in the house.
I thought that was a great off-the-cuff answer for her age
Later she told me, she was afraid that someone would come and take her BB gun away.
It literally breaks my heart, that our hobby of shooting sports is looked on so negatively; and that a child has to defend it. This is not the America I want to leave to her. I am ashamed.
>> a notation on which of the ten prohibited categories is applicable to the individual
>
> Ten categories could be expanded to 100 with little to no fanfare.
Heck, no need for that; just loosen what qualifies for a category (e.g. felon).
> Pretty soon, everyone will be denied for some reason or another, and the appeals process will be backlogged, confusing, and convoluted.
*nod* — That is their plan.
Because the only right to privacy is when having an abortion... as per Roe v. Wade.
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