In a front-page article, the New York Times (2/16, A1, Pear) reported, "The $787 billion economic stimulus bill approved by Congress will, for the first time, provide substantial amounts of money for the federal government to compare the effectiveness of different treatments for the same illness." Specifically, "researchers will receive $1.1 billion to compare drugs, medical devices, surgery, and other ways of treating specific conditions. The bill creates a council of up to 15 federal employees to coordinate the research, and to advise President Obama and Congress on how to spend the money." The Times noted that the "program responds to a growing concern that doctors have little or no solid evidence of the value of many treatments. Supporters of the research hope it will eventually save money by discouraging the use of costly, ineffective treatments." But, critics worry that "the legislation would allow the federal government to intrude in a person's healthcare by enforcing clinical guidelines and treatment protocols." In a brief recap, UPI (2/17) cites the details of the New York Times story.
CBO estimates stimulus may cost $3 trillion over next 10 years. According to the Washington Post (2/14, A9, Montgomery), the stimulus bill "will blast another big hole in an already tattered federal budget. ... The federal government was headed for a budget deficit of nearly $1.2 trillion, a post-war record. The stimulus package will drive that number to nearly $1.4 trillion this year and to more than $1.1 trillion next year, according to congressional budget analysts, with expensive decisions about housing, healthcare and the banking system yet to come." The Post stated that "the budget outlook is likely to grow even darker: Liberal Democrats hope to extend big chunks of the stimulus package past their two-year expiration date, making permanent increases in funding for public education and healthcare for the poor and unemployed. ... Meanwhile, President Obama wants to permanently extend a tax credit in the stimulus package for workers that costs at least $66 billion a year. Taken together, those goals would push the price of the stimulus package to around $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to a new estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Adding interest costs associated with borrowing the money, the tab comes to $3 trillion."
The Wall Street Journal (2/14, A4, Weisman) reported that with the passage of the stimulus plan, Obama "will pivot quickly to address a budget deficit that could now approach $2 trillion this year." Obama "has scheduled a 'fiscal-responsibility summit' on Feb. 23 and will unveil a budget blueprint three days later, crafted to put pressure on politicians to address the country's surging long-term debt crisis." White House Budget Director Peter Orszag "has committed to instituting tougher budget-discipline rules -- once the economy turns around. Those include a mandate that any 'nonemergency' spending increases be offset by equal spending cuts or tax increases."
Stimulus funds boost healthcare record industry. The Washington Post (2/16, D1, Huslin), on the front page of its Business section, reported that the "$19 billion prescribed in Congress's economic stimulus package to bring America's healthcare records into the electronic age is a welcome opportunity for information technology firms seeking to build market share in a still-young industry." Few "expect the new spending to change things immediately." To "computerize their medical records, physicians and their practices stand to get $44,000 to $64,000 in incentives, and hospitals up to $11 million." But providers "who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients and have not gone to paperless systems within five years could lose funding. With the federal government spending more than $600 billion annually on 80 million Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and other programs, that could prove a powerful incentive for providers to get on board."
The New York Times (2/16, B3, Cohen) examined the broader issues of concerns over the erosion of personal privacy, including the recent revelations about baseball player Alex Rodriguez, corporate data mining and government surveillance of telephone calls, but does not explore concerns over electronic health records.
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