Health IT measures are being added to larger legislative initiatives aimed at reducing the price of health coverage for the poor and uninsured, according to health IT analysts, Technology Daily reports.
Two revised health IT bills by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) could initiate the health IT agenda, according to Ticia Gerber, vice president of public policy and international programs at the eHealth Initiative. Kennedy in February plans to reintroduce a bill that would provide physicians with financial incentives to build personal health records. Kennedy in collaboration with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) also will reintroduce legislation to help develop secure, confidential health data networks and help physicians modernize their practices, Technology Daily reports.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) will continue to push for health IT, including legislation that would allow states to grant low-interest loans to physicians to purchase new computer systems, software and other technology. Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), the ranking Republican on the Senate HELP committee, said he will work with Ted Kennedy and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to update 2006's comprehensive health IT bill, which was passed unanimously in the Senate.
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) "will be influential in setting the health IT agenda," according to Technology Daily. Stark this year will not support the proposed exception to anti-kickback laws that would permit hospitals to donate IT to physicians, a Stark staffer said (Sternstein, Technology Daily, 1/29).