Contact: Colin Mason, Population Research Institute, 540-622-5240 ext 209

FRONT ROYAL, Va., Sept. 27, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- According to a recent op-ed in The Washington Examiner by Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), a recently proposed HHS rule would force insurance companies to "submit detailed health care information about their patients" to the federal government. According to a statement by PRI President Steven Mosher, PRI stands with Huelskamp in opposing this rule, which Mosher says give the federal government "undue power over life-and-death medical decisions."

According to Huelskamp's op-ed, "the HHS has proposed the federal government pursue one of three paths to obtain this sensitive information: A 'centralized approach' wherein insurers' data go directly to Washington; an 'intermediate state-level approach' in which insurers give the information to the 50 states; or a 'distributed approach' in which health insurance companies crunch the numbers according to federal bureaucrat edict."

"With its extensive rule-making decrees," Huelskamp concludes, "ObamaCare has been an exercise in creating authority out of thin air at the expense of individuals' rights, freedoms, and liberties."

Steven Mosher agrees, saying that PRI stands with Congressman Huelskamp in what attempts he may make to block the rule or alter it to better protect American privacies.

"This rule openly paves the way for the government to control our medical lives in every respect," Mosher continues. "It would open up the possibility of the government interfering in every medical decision we make, from end-of-life care to abortion. It is imperative that we stop such a rule before it has a chance to strip every American naked in front of the government."

Mosher concluded that the rule "should be of grave concern to all pro-life groups out there, since it touches at the very core of our basic medical privacies. We at PRI insist that Washington keep its hands off the private parts of our medical records."