Congressional Leaders Considering Additional Measures for Economic Stimulus Package
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) will consider supporting the addition of health information technology provisions to an economic stimulus package that lawmakers expect to develop in 2009, according to one of his aides, CongressDaily reports. The aide said that Enzi has not received enough information to decide whether a health IT measure to the stimulus package would "blow the budget."Enzi, along with HELP Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), in 2007 introduced a bill (S 1693) that would create a national electronic health records system. According to CongressDaily, privacy and funding issues prevented the bill from reaching the floor. A spokesperson for Kennedy, who declined to comment on the proposed stimulus package, said that Kennedy supports "quick action on the investments in health IT that President-elect [Barack] Obama has called for."
'Questions Abound' on Health IT
According to CongressDaily, "[q]uestions abound" regarding how health IT legislation could come forth in the next session particularly because of the larger Democratic majority and key changes in committee leadership. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) recently was voted to replace John Dingell (D-Mich.) as the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee next session. Dingell and Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) introduced health IT legislation (HR 6357) that "sailed through the panel in July with fewer compromises and less controversy than expected," according to CongressDaily.
Waxman had requested a provision that would allow individuals to sue people who disclose protected health data without consent, or allow state attorneys general to sue on behalf of citizens, but the proposal did not win the support of the committee. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) also has introduced a health IT bill (HR 6898), which he plans to reintroduce in 2009, CongressDaily reports (Noyes, CongressDaily, 12/4).
Pelosi on Medicaid
In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday indicated that there is a chance that a state Medicaid assistance measure could be included in the stimulus measure during next week's lame-duck session, Roll Call reports. Pelosi called on President Bush to "at a minimum ... support providing emergency food assistance and aid to states to maintain health care coverage for millions of Americans this holiday season."
A senior Democratic aide said that it is "possible" the House will consider the stimulus package. However, it still is uncertain if the House will convene for a lame-duck session, Roll Call reports. The House in September passed a $61 billion stimulus package that included state Medicaid assistance, but it failed to move over opposition from Bush and Senate Republicans, according to Roll Call (Bendery, Roll Call, 12/4).
Editorial
"Forty-one states face deficits this year or next because of the economy's steep decline, and unlike the federal government, most "have constitutional mandates to balance their budgets," so carrying a deficit is not an option, a Spokane Spokesman-Review editorial states. Although 48 governors met with President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday "in the hopes that the federal government would throw them a budgetary lifeline," governors and legislators still must "demonstrate they are willing to make the hard choices," including cutting services, according to the editorial.
According to the editorial, Medicaid is one "area of concern," among others. The editorial notes that "[i]f states cut their allocations, then the [federal government] will cut their matching amounts." That means that "more people will go without care until their medical conditions are serious and more expensive to treat," the editorial states. According to the editorial, "There is no ducking that ultimate cost, so it would be wise for the [federal government] to kick in more for Medicaid until the economy turns around" (Spokane Spokesman-Review, 12/5).
