[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HEALTH INSURANCE CRISIS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 2005

  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the hopes 
that this day might mark a turning point for our nation's health care. 
I'm proud to join my friend from Pennsylvania and my co-chairman of the 
House 21st Century Health Care Caucus, Mr. Murphy, in introducing the 
21st Century Health Information Act.
  Mr. Speaker, we politicians love to say that we have the best health 
care system in the world. It's true that we have the best medicine in 
the world, practiced by the best people in the best facilities. But the 
system we have makes it harder rather than easier to deliver the best 
care at the lowest cost.
  The status quo is not sustainable. Hundreds, of Americans die every 
day as a result of preventable errors or health care-acquired 
infections. Nearly half the time, patients aren't given recommended 
care. Doctors and other providers face extraordinary bureaucratic 
demand that, coupled with tightening reimbursement rates, leave them 
with less time to--treat patients. Administrative costs consume 30 
cents on the health care dollar. Duplication, inefficiencies, and 
unnecessary care result in some regions of the country spending 60% 
more than others on Medicare, on a risk-adjusted basis, with worse 
health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
  Whether you're worried about Medicaid, access to prescription drugs, 
malpractice premiums, the uninsured--you name it--the trend lines are 
going in the wrong direction because we aren't set up to get the best 
possible health outcomes at the lowest possible cost.
  We are living in the information age, and information technology is 
the underpinning of any effort to improve the long-term quality, 
safety, and efficiency of health care. And that's why I'm hopeful that 
the legislation we introduce today will begin the much needed 
transformation of health care.
  Today can be the beginning of the end of us having to fill out that 
confounded clipboard every time we go to the doctor.
  Today can be the beginning of the end of the 150 million calls 
pharmacists make to doctors every year to clarify handwriting on 
prescriptions.
  Today can be the beginning of the end of the bureaucratization of the 
practice of medicine, letting physicians get back to what they love, 
and what we need them to do: take care of patients.
  And today can be the beginning of the end of seeing hundreds of 
thousands of Americans die unnecessarily because our system isn't set 
up to deliver the safest, most effective care despite the best efforts 
of doctors and nurses.
  This bill is the first bipartisan legislation that addresses some of 
the systemic obstacles that have hindered the movement of health care 
into the information age. It is based on a regional approach, 
catalyzing a process that will bring together providers, patients, 
health plans, employers--all stakeholders--locally to do three crucial 
things: first, figure out how to collaborate on getting IT into 
physicians' hands; second, build a secure, confidential health 
information network to allow information to be shared as appropriate 
and authorized; and third, begin coming up with strategies to use the 
new information capabilities to make sure we get the right care to the 
right people at the right time as efficiently as possible.
  This bill will make sure that the federal government, in addition to 
getting the process rolling with grants, carries its own weight as a 
stakeholder in every community. And it takes down existing barriers by 
accelerating the process of standards adoption to ensure that 
information can be exchanged across platforms and creating narrow safe 
harbors in the Stark Act and anti-kickback law.
  A key to making this work, Mr. Speaker, is ensuring that privacy is a 
key priority as we move into an electronic medium. Electronic health 
records can be significantly more secure than paper records. Unlike 
with paper, we can create audit trails so we know whenever someone 
accessed a record. We can set up authentication systems to ensure that 
people are only able to access the parts of records that they need to 
see. While people understandably worry about security breaches and 
hackers, it's a lot easier to limit unauthorized access to electronic 
records than paper records that are passing through countless hands as 
they are filed, copied, faxed, transcribed, or simply left lying 
around. We can and must ensure that privacy and security are paramount 
as these systems are designed.
  It is also important to note that under this bill, no physician will 
be required to implement anything unless he or she wants to. Physicians 
will have a key decisionmaking role in deciding how networks will be 
structured and what information will be shared. The bill does not 
require the use of a common platform or product but accelerates the 
development of interoperable electronic medical records and other 
products so physicians can choose products that are right for them. 
Well-designed systems should simplify physicians' compliance with 
HIPAA, not expand their potential liability, and should given doctors 
new tools to streamline billing, eligibility checks, patient tracking 
and notification, and public health and quality reporting.
  We received a vast amount of help an input on this legislation from 
too many quarters to mention individually. I would like to single out, 
however, a distinguished former colleague of ours, Speaker Newt 
Gingrich. He has been a terrific supporter of this legislation, and I 
know both the gentleman from Pennsylvania and I are grateful for his 
help and that of his staff.
  Mr. Speaker, with the President's support for health IT, with David 
Brailer and Secretary Leavitt laying out a vision that's very similar 
to this bill, with our colleagues in both the House and Senate 
increasingly interested in health IT, we are poised to finally begin 
the belated transformation of our health care system.
  Each of us, whether as patient, provider, taxpayer, or health care 
bill-payer, desperately needs to see our health care system to produce 
better value for the dollar. The stakes are enormous and I look forward 
to working with my colleagues to see that we meet this challenge, 
starting today. Thank you.

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