'Plenty of time' to pass final health care IT Bill, Rep. Deal says

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Chair Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) on Thursday said Congress has "plenty of time" prior to midterm elections to pass legislation that would promote the implementation of health care information technology, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).

The House on July 27 approved a bill (HR 4157) sponsored by Deal and Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) that would codify the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within HHS, as well as establish a committee to make recommendations on national standards for medical data storage and develop a permanent structure to govern national interoperability standards. The bill also would clarify that current medical privacy laws apply to data stored or transmitted electronically and would require the HHS secretary to recommend to Congress a privacy standard to reconcile differences in federal and state laws. Under the bill, the number of billing codes health care providers use to file insurance claims would increase from 24,000 to more than 200,000 by October 2010. In addition, the legislation includes an exemption of anti-kickback laws that would allow hospitals to provide health care IT hardware and software to individual physicians. The Senate in November 2005 passed a different version of the bill (S 1418) that does not include the provision on billing codes or the exemption of anti-kickback laws (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/28). In an interview Deal said, "I wish I could tell you" whether a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between the bills will occur before or after the midterm elections, adding, "There are not that many differences on it."

'Sticking Point'

According to CQ HealthBeat, whether to include the exemption remains one "sticking point" on approval of a final bill. Deal said that, without the exemption, the legislation would not do much to promote the implementation of health care IT. However, America's Health Insurance Plans has lobbied for the removal of the exemption from the bill over concerns that the provision does not require the interoperability of health care IT hardware and software provided to physicians by hospitals. "As a result, the physician could be forced to funnel his or her patients to a particular hospital or hospital system," a practice that could lead to antitrust law violations and increased health care costs, according to a legal memo prepared for AHIP. In addition, AHIP has criticized the October 2010 deadline for the increase in the number of billing codes as "unrealistic."

Additional Legislation

Deal also said that Congress likely "will do something" this year to address a 5.1% reduction in physician Medicare reimbursements scheduled for January 1, 2007, but likely will not revise the formula used to determine the reimbursements. He added, "I would prefer to get it done before the election." In addition, Deal said that the House within two weeks likely will approve legislation to authorize the Ryan White CARE Act. House Republican leaders on Thursday said that the House will recess for the midterm elections on Sept. 29 and will begin a lame-duck session on Nov. 13. The Senate likely will follow the same schedule (CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).