Posted on July 31, 2009 by Joseph M. Wallin

Copy of Energy and Commerce Committee Bill

The Energy and Commerce Committee passed its health care bill today.  You can read a copy here.

The Joint Committee on Taxation wrote a helpful description of the tax provisions in the bill which was the precursor to this bill.  You can find that analysis here.

Under the proposed bill, employers will either have to provide health care insurance or pay a penalty equal to 8% of the wages paid to employees (not capped).  This 8% tax would be in addition to FICA taxes.

A good place to read H.R. 3200 is at Thomas.gov; link to bill here.

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Posted on February 19, 2009 by Joseph M. Wallin

Carrots and Sticks: The Stimulus Package Promotes Health Information Technology

 By Rachel E. Dobrow Stone, Allen E. Briskin, Gerry Hinkley, Rebecca L. Williams, Paul T. Smith, 

Jill H. Gordon and Megan Vogel

Title XIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Act), signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009, among many other things, provides funding and incentives for the development, adoption and upgrade of health information technology (HIT). Although there might be disagreement over whether these measures will provide the type of economic stimulus that the Act generally is intended to create, many commentators have concluded, given the current state of the economy, that their inclusion in the Act was the only means to achieve meaningful health care technology policy reform in this session of Congress. Continue reading...

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Posted on February 18, 2009 by Joseph M. Wallin

Economic Stimulus Package Ratchets up Privacy and Security for Health Information

 By Rebecca L. Williams, Paul T. Smith, Jill H. Gordon, Gerry Hinkley, Allen E. Briskin, Rachel E. Dobrow Stone and Megan Vogel

The new economic stimulus package provides over $19 billion to support and promote the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) for all Americans by 2014. With this added momentum comes concerns about the privacy and security of EHRs, particularly in the hands of health record exchanges, which are not directly regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The new legislation is loaded with requirements, new enforcement provisions and penalties for covered entities, business associates, vendors and others.

Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Act) on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, with almost unprecedented speed, and the President signed it into law on Feb. 17. The Act has grabbed the attention of the country - from inside the beltway to Main Street America. Title XIII of the Act is artfully entitled the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (also referred to as HITECH) Act.

Most of the Act's provisions will take effect one year after enactment of the law (Feb. 17, 2010) although increased penalty provisions go into effect immediately. Other provisions require implementing regulations and will take two years or longer to take effect. Continue reading...

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