[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 102 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4157) to 
     amend the Social Security Act to encourage the dissemination, 
     security, confidentiality, and usefulness of health 
     information technology:

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 4157, the 
Health Information Technology Promotion Act. While I strongly support 
improving and advancing health information technology, I am 
disappointed that the Majority chose to bring this inadequate bill to 
the House Floor instead of offering the Enzi-Kennedy-Frist-Clinton 
bipartisan Senate-passed bill.
  H.R. 4157 does not provide for the development or adoption of 
interoperability standard. It does not provide funding to help 
providers transition to an electronic medical records system. And it 
does not provide privacy protections which will ensure that patients 
can control access to their own sensitive electronic health 
information. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has stated that 
``enacting H.R. 4157 would not significantly affect either the rate at 
which the use of health technology will grow or how well that 
technology will be designed and implemented.''
  Mr. Chairman, all of this makes you wonder why the Majority insisted 
on bringing this bill to the floor and refused to consider the Dingell-
Rangel substitute. The Dingell-Rangel substitute was the bipartisan 
Senate-passed bill with additional key privacy protections. It 
authorized necessary funding to help providers adopt health IT and it 
removed provisions that expanded waste, fraud and abuse.
  Mr. Chairman, we must bring our healthcare system into the 21st 
century. To do so, we must have a comprehensive, interoperable 
technology-based system that will also protect patient privacy. With 
this, we will improve efficiency, ensure patient care, and reduce 
medical error. Unfortunately, this bill has too many flaws and does 
little to improve upon our outmoded pen and pad system. I am 
disappointed that the Majority did not allow us to vote on a bill that 
will make a difference. Americans deserve better.

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