WASHINGTON – The House Ways and Means Health subcommittee on Wednesday voted 8 to 5 along party lines to approve legislation that would promote healthcare IT adoption, improving chances that a healthcare IT bill could pass in the House.

The bill (H.R. 4157), sponsored by subcommittee Chair Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), would:

1.    Create exemptions to Stark and anti-kickback laws that currently prevent hospitals and other groups from sharing technology with physicians. Johnson offered an amendment to the bill that prohibits the use of referrals in exchange for healthcare IT.

2.    Codify the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology;

3.    Update the medical coding system to from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes by 2009;

4.    Call on HHS to study the variation in state and federal security and privacy laws and determine whether the laws need to be strengthened to protect patient privacy. Under the bill, if Congress does not enact legislation 18 months after the study, HHS has the option to modify federal standards and limit state laws.

5.    Require HHS to adopt or reject coding and transaction standards proposed by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics within 90 days of an NCVHS’ recommendation.

6.    Require HHS to report on the activities of the American Health Information Community, a public-private advisory body charged with recommending standards to encourage healthcare IT uptake.

7.    Call for development of a strategic federal plan to coordinate implementation of health IT standards, transaction standards and new coding systems.

8.    Promote telehealth services

The Senate late last year passed S. 1418, a bipartisan bill aimed at encouraging healthcare IT adoption. Johnson’s bill will now move to the full House Ways and Means Committee for a vote. Any House bill that passes would have to be reconciled with the Senate version to pass.

Democrats oppose bill

House Democrats on the subcommittee all opposed H.R. 4157, saying the bill does not set a date for standards adoption, adequately fund providers’ healthcare IT purchases or go far enough to protect patient privacy. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) also called for Johnson to remove the Stark and anti-kickback provisions, saying it would encourage widespread fraud.

“Healthcare IT should be non-partisan. While the Senate bill is less than perfect, it’s a whole hell of a lot better than this turkey we have before us today,” Stark said during Wednesday’s markup.

Democrats on the committee introduced several amendments to address privacy and funding concerns. All were defeated along party lines. Before Wednesday’s markup of the bill, 120 House Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert calling for passage of a stronger healthcare IT bill.

Prior to Wednesday’s markup, the American Health Information Management Association also sent a letter to Congress calling for the coding update to ICD-10. Blue Cross Blue Shield and other groups had opposed the move, saying 2009 was not enough time to switch billing codes.

Privacy advocates said Johnson’s bill does not protect patients’ medical data. Several groups expressed concerns over a previous provision in the bill to create a uniform, federal privacy standard. That language was removed from the bill. However, Deborah Peel, MD, chairman of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, called the changes “meaningless tweaks.” Johnson said she had a letter from the American Psychiatric Association supporting the bill. The APA has said its letter thanked Johnson for some of the changes to the bill, but did not support the legislation.