Democrats to push health IT funding, privacy
By Heather B. Hayes
Published on Jan. 11, 2007
Congress did not pass national health information technology legislation last year, but it remains one of few truly bipartisan issues the new Congress will deal with, advocates say. As Democrats exert their leadership, industry observers also expect a shift in how health IT laws are approached.
“Democrats will certainly re-address the issue, and in fact, there’s already been talk among staffers about putting together a new broad-based [health IT] bill,” said David Merritt, project director for the Center for Health Transformation. “But it is for certain that their priorities will differ somewhat.”
Four themes are likely to emerge among the Democrats’ talking points: funding, privacy, systems interoperability and personal health records. Funding and privacy are potential sticking points.
Democrats will likely target funding to encourage small medical practices in underserved communities to adopt health IT. But Dave Roberts, vice president of government relations at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, said they will have to be creative, because the Democrats have already committed to using a pay-as-you-go budgeting approach.
“They’re going to have to find sources to pay for it or raise taxes,” he said. “That’s going to be a real trick, since there’s going to be a lot of competition for funding among other health care concerns.”
Privacy is another issue that promises to produce a vigorous debate. House Democrats have long been pushing for comprehensive patient privacy protections as part of health IT legislation, including the right to consent to data disclosure, to opt in and out of electronic databases, and to be notified of privacy breaches.
“It’s going to be a different ballgame because the Democrats are at least going to hold extensive hearings on privacy and have a lot more oversight of what’s been going on at the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Deborah Peel, executive director of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation.
Last year, the Republican-led Congress largely avoided the privacy issue. The Senate bill relied on existing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protections, while the final House bill directed the HHS secretary to study existing privacy law and recommend a single national standard.
Published on Jan. 11, 2007
Congress did not pass national health information technology legislation last year, but it remains one of few truly bipartisan issues the new Congress will deal with, advocates say. As Democrats exert their leadership, industry observers also expect a shift in how health IT laws are approached.
“Democrats will certainly re-address the issue, and in fact, there’s already been talk among staffers about putting together a new broad-based [health IT] bill,” said David Merritt, project director for the Center for Health Transformation. “But it is for certain that their priorities will differ somewhat.”
Four themes are likely to emerge among the Democrats’ talking points: funding, privacy, systems interoperability and personal health records. Funding and privacy are potential sticking points.
Democrats will likely target funding to encourage small medical practices in underserved communities to adopt health IT. But Dave Roberts, vice president of government relations at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, said they will have to be creative, because the Democrats have already committed to using a pay-as-you-go budgeting approach.
“They’re going to have to find sources to pay for it or raise taxes,” he said. “That’s going to be a real trick, since there’s going to be a lot of competition for funding among other health care concerns.”
Privacy is another issue that promises to produce a vigorous debate. House Democrats have long been pushing for comprehensive patient privacy protections as part of health IT legislation, including the right to consent to data disclosure, to opt in and out of electronic databases, and to be notified of privacy breaches.
“It’s going to be a different ballgame because the Democrats are at least going to hold extensive hearings on privacy and have a lot more oversight of what’s been going on at the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Deborah Peel, executive director of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation.
Last year, the Republican-led Congress largely avoided the privacy issue. The Senate bill relied on existing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protections, while the final House bill directed the HHS secretary to study existing privacy law and recommend a single national standard.
posted by WyHIO at 11:29 AM
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