A new bill introduced into the Senate this week would authorize $4.05 billion in grants to healthcare providers over five years to adopt interoperable information technology. The bill, S1227, introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), would also authorize
Medicare incentive payments to offset the cost of IT, and enable providers to deduct IT investments from federal taxes. Under the bill, providers could apply for grants of up to $1 million for a hospital; $200,000 for a skilled nursing facility; $150,000 for a federally qualified health center; $75,000 for a community mental health center; $15,000 per physician for a group practice; and $15,000 for an individual physician. According to HealthDataManagement, about 15 national health care trade associations support the bill. Supporters include the National Business Coalition on Health, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Verizon, and a number of health care IT vendors. The AFL-CIO also supports the bill. ReadPermalink*|*Email this*|*Linking*Blogs*|*Comments
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