29 Jan House passes stimulus package with $30 billion in net health IT bonuses
The House passed an $819 billion economic stimulus bill Wednesday night that includes $20 billion for healthcare IT and policy changes that are expected to result in $30 billion in net bonuses for providers who adopt and use certified healthcare IT products over the next 10 years.
The bill includes the expected $2 billion for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, but policy changes to Medicaid and Medicare contain some surprising net gains for the industry, according to Justin Barnes, chairman of the Electronic Health Records Association and vice president of Marketing and Government Affairs at Greenway Medical Technologies.
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