[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 161 (Monday, November 2, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2680-E2681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SMALL BUSINESS FINANCING AND INVESTMENT ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. DAVID WU

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 29, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3854) to 
     amend the Small Business Act and the Small Business 
     Investment Act of 1958 to improve programs providing access 
     to capital under such Acts, and for other purposes:

  Mr. WU. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 3854, the Small 
Business Financing and Investment Act.
  I.also want to thank my colleague from Oregon, Congressman Kurt 
Schrader, for bringing this important bill to the floor.
  H.R. 3854 will create incentives for small business lending, reduce 
bureaucracy, and increase the size of SBA loans in order to help loosen 
credit and get capital flowing again to small businesses.
  Furthermore, H.R. 3854 addresses an important issue tied to health 
care reform, the cost of health information technology for small 
practice providers. These provisions were part of Congresswoman 
Dahlkemper's Small Business Health Information Technology Financing 
Act.
  This bill will streamline loan processing for health information 
technology by reducing paperwork for both the lender and applicant, and 
require a 72-hour response time by SBA on

[[Page E2681]]

decisions to guaranty loans. Under the bill, health information 
technology loans will be guaranteed 90 percent by the SBA, a factor 
that will encourage robust lender participation in the program.
  Health IT has the potential to reduce costs and medical errors, while 
encouraging greater efficiency. It will be an essential component of 
our efforts to reform health care.
  However, to use health IT most effectively, we must first address 
three barriers to its widespread adoption: technical standards and 
interoperability, workforce training, and the realignment of financial 
incentives.
  This bill can help to address a part of the third, which involves the 
cost of implementation.
  I.have long believed that we should continue to look at ways that we 
can create more incentives for small practice doctors to adopt health 
information technology. It's important to note that 80 percent of all 
outpatient visits take place in practices with 10 or fewer doctors. It 
is essential that these practices receive the assistance they need in 
order to be able to implement health IT.
  The larger barrier to health IT adoption is that its associated costs 
and benefits are not realized equally between health care providers and 
payors. The financial benefit of health IT accrues to the payor--the 
insurer--while providers are the parties most likely to bear the cost.
  The challenges of implementing health IT vary greatly from large 
health systems to smaller medical practices. Small medical practices, 
which may have to incur initial costs of up to $200,000--around $40,000 
per physician--for a system, may see little, if any, financial benefit 
from its applications. It's no wonder health IT has a deployment rate 
of less than 20 percent in these offices.
  I.have been working with the Education and Labor Committee and 
leadership to address this issue in health care reform moving forward.
  H.R. 3854 will provide financial assistance to these small practices, 
and I wholeheartedly support this legislation.

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