A federal judge's ruling that the health reform law is unconstitutional could have an effect on several health IT-related initiatives, Health Data Management reports (Goedert, Health Data Management, 2/1).
Judge's Ruling
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson ruled that the federal health reform law's individual mandate is unconstitutional, agreeing with plaintiffs in a multistate lawsuit against the overhaul that the mandate exceeds Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce (Aizenman/Goldstein, Washington Post, 2/1).
Vinson also voided the entire law because he concluded that the mandate is "inextricably bound" to other provisions in the law (Sack, New York Times, 1/31).
IT Provisions
According to Health Data Management, IT-related provisions that could be affected by Vinson's ruling include:
- Demonstration projects for accountable care organizations, which use IT tools;
- New collection and reporting responsibilities on health care disparities;
- New health care-associated data collection by the Internal Revenue Service;
- New operating rules to standardize HIPAA transactions;
- Online-based insurance exchanges at the state level; and
- Web-based enrollment for health care and human services programs (Health Data Management, 2/1).