Susan, who is an advocate for people who suffer from mental illness, as well as the creator of a popular mental health blog entitled,  "If you are going through hell keep going" explains her view on this controversial topic:

"This new plan really bothers me for some reason I cannot fathom. Maybe because I am opposed to Nanny States and Big Brother. If every medical file you have, from the moment you are born and the doctor slaps your backside- until they declare you dead and off the funeral parlor- is there- what if there are things you don't want people to know?

While it might be a good idea for some things- I don't care if people know my blood type is A neg, and  I am not allergic to Penicillin- I don't even care if people know I want to be an organ donor. But that I have flat feet? Ugh, no.

But for everything else- it seems to be a sloping line from knowing I have had my tonsils removed twice- to my mental health hospitalizations. I am comfortable telling my doctor this, but not the whole world. Does the world really need to know I had a miscarriage and became anemic from it for the longest time? It just makes me uncomfortable when I think of things people want hidden in their files, like for example any history of sexually transmitted diseases, Aids, problems stemming from illegal drug use. Cancer. Suicide attempts- or if you were the victim of physical abuse.

I understand there is a good reason to do this, but it should be kept simple. Name, social security number, blood type, and organ donation. Which meds allergic to.  Next of kin if under age. Anything more than that- to me. like I said is Big Brother, and that is something I don't want to see in my lifetime."

John D. who is a long time sufferer of depression and who writes about his efforts to recover and heal in his blog entitled, "Storied Time"  also has worries about the risks to individual privacy:

"I'm impressed that the local health system I use has computerized records and can give me a written report after each visit. Doing this on a national scale, though, raises not only privacy issues related to hacking large system, but also issues about involuntary inclusion of private records for uses an individual couldn't control. Right now my permission is required to send records anywhere outside that local system - would that happen on a national scale? I also doubt the feasibility of connecting every doctor's office and local system around the country. Many of these attempts have failed, yet software marketers keep overselling the capabilities of their products to tie together incompatible networks. Lots of unresolved issues - so I would go slow and try to answer these first before jumping in."

So what are your thoughts?  Do you fear that your private medical information could be found in the wrong hands due to the government's efforts to computerize health records?  Or do you feel the advantages outweigh these risks?  Please don't hesitate to share your opinion.  We want to hear what you have to say.