More on Health IT
Here is in-depth analysis by the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery (MWE) of the Health Information Technology section of the new stimulus package. The lesson – if you would like to participate in the Brave New World of federally-prescribed Health IT, the first thing to do is hire a lawyer.
The provisions of the bill are nearly incomprehensible. And the time frames are completely unrealistic. Standards are supposed to be set by December 31, 2009 – that's ten months from now, folks. And "each person in the United States" is supposed to be using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) by 2014. There are committees galore and grants to the states and "qualified not-for-profit entities." There is money available to providers to "purchase certified EHR technology," and "incentives" under Medicare and Medicaid to become a "meaningful EHR user." For physicians, the incentive is a bonus of up to $18,000 for 2011 and 2012, and decreasing after that.
Exactly as I would have expected.
Sounds like this is going to be a disaster.
The COBRA subsidy portion of the stimulus bill was unintelligible enough to make me dizzy, and it dealt with a single, specific requirement. I can imagine how the I.T. section must look.
The truth us very few people have no cgearvoe. Those that are poor have welfare. Those that work and make under a certain ammount get health cards. Those that make a bit more can get health care if they wanted. But many would rather have the new car and boat in the driveway than spend any money on health care. How is that my problem?