Weekly Washington Healthcare Update: October 8, 2012

With health care receiving dedicated time during the first Presidential debate, it's clearly an issue that candidates up and down the ticket will be raising with voters in the last month before the November elections. While much of the dialogue from candidates surrounding the health care debate has been rhetorical, this week's Oct. 1 deadline for states to submit their essential health benefit (EHB) benchmark plans marked a relatively substantive development in the growing saga of state flexibility in Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation. Expect another wave immediately following election results.

This Week:

1. Congress

   House of Representatives

   Key Committee Chairmen Weigh in on Electronic Health Records

   Arguing that the bar for "meaningful use" of electronic health records (EHRs) is too low under regulations promulgated by HHS, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) and Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA) this week sent a letter to Secretary Sebelius asking that she "immediately suspend" electronic health record incentive payments to providers and delay penalties for not participating in the meaningful use program. The letter went on to request that expectations for recipients of federal funds should be increased, and that overall the EHR incentive program should focus on making health care delivery more efficient and affordable, instead of focusing on participation rates.

   However, the interoperability concerns expressed by the lawmakers were somewhat muted by a study from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), and Doctors Helping Doctors Transform Health Care recently noted that the interoperability standards for Stage 2 meaningful use are being implemented on a "very aggressive schedule," which may address the most important types of data sharing identified by physicians.

   House Wants Health Information Technology Working Group

   A group of House Republicans sent a letter last Friday asking HHS Secretary Sebelius to convene a working group of patients, industry groups and other stakeholders in updating its current regulatory framework surrounding health information technology (HIT), pursuant to Section 618 of the recently enacted Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovations Act. The letter stresses the importance of balancing the need for patient safety with the need for innovation in the sector.

   Senate

   Sen. Grassley Questions 340B Integrity

   Last week, Sen. Grassley (R-IA) sent letters to three North Carolina hospitals seeking information regarding utilization...