WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s expanded fiscal year 2010 budget signals continued commitment to advancing healthcare IT as a way to cut healthcare costs and save lives.
Obama’s $3.4 trillion federal budget, released May 8, expanded the outline he presented to Congress at the end of February. It includes $879 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated $63 billion increase over fiscal year 2009.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is expected to receive $372 million to conduct research on comparative effectiveness, prevention and care management, value research, health information technology and patient safety. In addition, the AHRQ will use the funding to support research it conducts with other agencies.
The president’s budget for AHRQ will be in addition to the $1.1 billion allotted for comparative effectiveness research under the stimulus package.
Obama’s plan calls for $635 billion over 10 years as a “down payment” toward health reform. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called it “a smart investment.”
“No one should underestimate President Obama’s commitment to getting healthcare reform this year,” she said. “This budget sends a clear message that we can’t afford to wait any longer if we want to get healthcare costs under control and improve our fiscal outlook,” she added. The president has made it clear that he considers health IT as a major aspect of containing costs into the future.
David Blumenthal, MD, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said his office is “totally focused” on President Obama’s initiatives to establish healthcare IT. He called health IT “a critical pillar” in the plan to build more quality into American healthcare. Obama’s goal calls for every American to have electronic health records by 2014.
Though Obama clearly has much support, some are not sold. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing May 11, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was skeptical about spending a lot on health reform, including health IT.
“It will be some time before this fairy dust turns to gold,” he said. Grassley did say that President Obama’s leadership would be “essential” in figuring out how to pay for health reform.
