August 21, 2000 Features What's in Your Green Tea? BY FRANCES CERRA WHITTELSEY An In These Times special investigation. Why I'm Voting for Nader ... BY ROBERT McCHESNEY ... And Why I'm Not BY JAMES WEINSTEIN Fox Shocks the World BY RICK ROCKWELL Now comes the hard part for Mexico's new president. Tijuana Troubles BY DAVID BACON NAFTA is failing workers. Unions Get Religion BY DAVID MOBERG News Safety Last BY DAVE LINDORFF As oil prices soar, so do the number of deadly accidents. Sale of the Century BY GEOFF SCHUMACHER An unusual government auction helps preserve the Nevada wilderness. Water Wars BY CHARMAINE SEITZ A botched deal leaves Palestinians high and dry. Profile BY BEN WINTERS Lowell Thompson, a.k.a Raceman. Views Editorial BY JOEL BLEIFUSS Toxic shock. Viewpoint BY KIP SULLIVAN HMO's invasion of privacy. Appall-O-Meter BY DAVID FUTRELLE A Terry Laban Cartoon Culture Give It Away BY DAVID GRAEBER The Maussians are coming. Good Fela BY HILLARY FREY The music, politics and legend of Nigeria's Fela Kuti. Time's Arrow BY CARL BROMLEY A Chilean dissident finds the cinema in Proust. Mission: Impossible 3 BY BILL BOISVERT Goodbye, Mr. Secret Agent ...

Invasion of Privacy By Kip Sullivan The congressional debate over health care and privacy has dragged on for five years now, but neither Republicans nor Democrats have addressed the main threat to patient privacy: the HMO habit of commandeering medical records. Democrats argue with Republicans about whether state privacy laws should be superseded by federal law, and whether doctors and HMOs should have to notify patients about their privacy policies. But neither party is posing the most fundamental question: Should HMO employees be allowed to read medical records in the first place? The reason for the deafening silence on this issue is obvious: Challenging the HMO practice of pawing through patient files is tantamount to challenging the entire concept of an HMO. Unlike traditional insurance companies, HMOs attempt to save money by influencing and vetoing physician-patient decisions. HMOs, in short, practice medicine. To practice medicine, one must have access to patient files. Putting an end to the HMO practice of seizing patient files without patient consent would almost certainly put an end to HMOs. And no one in Washington has the good sense or courage to do that. Kip Sullivan sits on the steering committee of the Health Care Campaign of Minnesota.   TOP HOME SUBSCRIBE MAIL   In These Times © 2000 Vol. 24, No. 19