Republican Main Street Partnership Urges House Passage of Health IT Legislation

House IT Legislation Will Improve Care and Lower Healthcare Costs

Chris Barron
(202) 286-4533

(Washington, D.C.) — Today, the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on health information technology (IT) legislation. “The Republican Main Street Partnership urges the House to pass health IT legislation,” said former U.S. Rep. Charles F. Bass, President and CEO of Main Street. “Health IT legislation will improve care and save the system tens of billions of dollars.”

“Passing health IT legislation will improve care and help save lives,” continued Bass. “By providing doctors and others with accurate, detailed and up-to-date health records and information, we can reduce the nearly 100,000 deaths each year due to medical errors.”

“Health IT legislation will not only improve care,” continued Bass, “it will also save the system tens of billions of dollars.” According to a study by the Rand Corporation, health IT legislation could save the U.S. $81 billion annually. In fact, the efficiencies of health IT will decrease administrative expenses, increase the time doctors can spend with patients, lower health insurance premiums and save hundreds of billions of dollars nationally over the next decade.

Health IT can also serve to strengthen patient privacy. Under the current, paper-based system, there is no way to know someone reviews your medical file. Health IT would create an audit trail showing who tried to access medical records, when they made the attempt, and where.

“With healthcare costs spiraling up, now is the time for Congress to act. Bipartisan passage of healthcare IT legislation will send a powerful message to the American people that the Congress is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to the challenges our nation faces,” concluded Bass.

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The Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP) is dedicated to promoting and building a pragmatic, thoughtful, fiscally conservative, and inclusive “Governing Majority,” where political debate is encouraged to promote solutions to improve the lives of all Americans. Embracing the full spectrum of center-right ideologies and values in order to build coalitions, RMSP is the largest organization of elected leaders who are in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. For more information on RMSP, visit our website at www.republicanmainstreet.org.