The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday unveiled a pilot program for the National Institutes of Health to tap into Medicare and Medicaid data in its search for the root causes of autism.The database 맥스카지노� which HHS said will draw from insurance claims, medical records, and data from wearable technology such as smartwatches 맥스카지노� is one of the first steps in HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.맥스카지노�s bid to find the causes of autism 맥스카지노�by September.맥스카지노�Yet early signals from health officials that they would build a database to track autism were met with swift rebuke from advocacy organizations and doctors.NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya맥스카지노�s initial description last month of a 맥스카지노�new autism registry맥스카지노� with 맥스카지노�broad coverage맥스카지노� of the U.S. population raised red flags and questions about privacy, the Autism Science Foundation said in a statement shortly after the news. The Autism Self Advocacy Network lambasted the project as an example of how this administration has 맥스카지노�completely frozen out autistic people.맥스카지노�HHS nodded to those concerns in its announcement Wednesday. It said NIH and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will start with a data use agreement focused on Medicare and Medicaid enrollees diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, then establish a 맥스카지노�secure tech-enabled mechanism맥스카지노� that will share data with 맥스카지노�timely, privacy and security compliant data exchange.맥스카지노� The agencies will eventually build the pilot database out to share data on chronic illnesses and their economic burden, HHS said.맥스카지노�Ever since the registry was first announced, there was an enormous sense of fear in the autism community, and they have concerns: Who맥스카지노�s going to have access to data? How are those data going to be used?맥스카지노� Helen Tager-Flusberg, director of Boston University맥스카지노�s Center for Autism Research and leader of the Coalition of Autism Scientists, told CNN.There are also limitations to CMS data, Tager-Flusberg said. 맥스카지노�If you맥스카지노�re talking about Medicare and Medicaid, that only focuses on certain portions of the population.맥스카지노�Medicaid is a federal and state partnership covering low-income adults and children. Medicare is a federal program primarily for Americans 65 and older, although younger people with disabilities are also enrolled.There are permissible uses of CMS data for medical research but very stringent privacy laws, Jeff Wurzburg, former HHS general counsel and a health care regulatory attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright, told CNN before Wednesday맥스카지노�s announcement. 맥스카지노�One of the primary, overarching goals of CMS is protection of the beneficiary. So it맥스카지노�s certainly legitimate and reasonable to raise questions about how this data will be collected and protected.맥스카지노�Autism advocates and scientists have also questioned Kennedy맥스카지노�s claim that health agencies would find the causes of autism by September, a timeline that Bhattacharya already appeared to walk back.맥스카지노�Science happens at its own pace. We맥스카지노�re accelerating and cutting the red tape that normally comes with putting together a scientific program like this,맥스카지노� he told reporters on April 22. 맥스카지노�We맥스카지노�ll have, I hope, in September, something that in place where the scientists that want to want to compete for these awards will be able to do that.맥스카지노�