House Energy & Commerce Committee Considers Health IT Draft Legislation

JUNE 16, 2008

On May 22, the House Energy & Commerce Committee released a discussion draft of a new health information technology bill.  The legislation draws from a number of existing bills as well as some new concepts in its attempt at building a comprehensive approach to promoting the utilization and financing of health information technology.

The House Committee on Energy & Commerce's Health Subcommittee met on Wednesday, June 4, to hear testimony on the discussion draft, which would amend the Public Health Services Act to promote the adoption of health information technology (IT).

Nine witnesses were called before the panel, with eight representing various private sector health IT stakeholders, including the AARP, the African American Health Alliance, the American Medical Association, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Cisco, Kaiser Permanente, Patient Privacy Rights, and Verizon.  The ninth panelist, Dr. Carolyn Clancy of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, represented the Administration.

There was a high level of interest among the subcommittee's members, as 14 of them made opening statements, and a total of 21 members attended throughout the morning.  All four co-sponsors of the legislation—Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI), Committee Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX), Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Nathan Deal (R-GA)—were present and spoke during the hearing.

In recognition of the fact that a very limited number of individuals were able to testify, the Committee held a stakeholder meeting on Thursday, June 5.  All groups that submitted comments or testimony for the hearing were invited to attend to have a chance to air their views in a more informal setting, with the staff that drafted the bill in attendance to answer questions and listen to comments.  eHealth Initiative submitted written testimony which can be found here.

The full text of the draft legislation can be found here, and a memo written by the sponsors of the bill can be found here. 

For more information contact eHI’s Manager of Government Relations and Public Policy, Brian Wagner, at Brian.Wagner@eHealthInitiative.org.