Welcome to Karen Bell MD, the new Chair of CCHIT. Karen assumes the position as Mark Leavitt , former Head of CMS and HHS moves on to other responsibilities.
As ONC and NHIN develop Karen's Commission is at a critical juncture regarding certification of EMRs and the NHIN participants. At the same time other certifying bodies, such as the Drummond Group also compete for this responsibility.
The federal government has laid out the gauntlet and what appears to be an unreasonable rush to implementing electronic medical record keeping using a carrot and stick approach. This approach compromises a fine idea without regard for providers and those who will be paying for and using the systems.
Is the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act Constitutional?
Gregg Scandlen of Consumer Power Report #221 reveals:
"Apparently there was no “severability” clause written into this law, which shows how amateurish the process was. Virtually every bill I’ve ever read includes a provision that if any part of the law is ruled unconstitutional the rest of the law will remain intact. Not this one. That will likely mean that the entire law will be thrown out if a part of it is found to violate the Constitution."
There are innumerable senators and congressmen who hold law degrees from prestigious law schools. How did they miss this? I am sure all legislation is 'proof read' by special advisors prior to a 'vote". Was this omission intentional on the part of those opposed to the legislation but unable to carry a negative vote at the final vote? Time will tell about this matter.
You may subscribe to his regular news email by sending a request to: Greg Scandlen [rknox@heartland.org]i
As reported in the Wall Street Journal:
By Katherine Hobson
In 2014, insurers will have to accept all comers, pricing coverage only by age, geographic area and family size. Until then, people with medical issues that prevent them from getting affordable insurance are being steered into so-called high-risk pools. And today is the deadline for states to tell the federal government whether they want to take on the task of running those pools themselves, the New York Times reports.
The health-care overhaul bill is a blueprint. Now Obama administration folks are working on the rules that will actually put that plan into action – and, as Kaiser Health News reports – lobbyists are really interested in how that will shake out.
We posted earlier this week about one such area of confusion, the so-called grandfather provision that says existing health plans can avoid some of the consumer-friendly changes dictated by the bill (such as an end to co-pays for some preventive care). The question is what kind of changes insurers can make to a plan and still keep it exempt from those requirement.
(commentary)...Since when is a federal law a 'blueprint'? This is no longer a bill, it is an ACT.