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Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health For
Immediate Release Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Immediate Implementation of HIPAA Administrative Simplification WASHINGTON – Late yesterday, bipartisan health care leaders called for the end of delays to the implementation of administrative simplifications outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Lawmakers are concerned that savings to health care providers, plans and consumers would not materialize if simplification is delayed. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Ranking Member Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Ranking Member Pete Stark (D-CA) delivered this message in the following letter to their congressional colleagues. We are writing to express our concerns about recent efforts to delay administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. These provisions will improve administrative efficiency in the health care industry by facilitating electronic transactions between health plans and health care providers. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates these administrative simplifications will result in net savings (i.e., savings after accounting for implementation costs) of $29.9 billion over ten years. If these provisions are delayed, public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private payers, and, ultimately, all Americans will needlessly continue to pay for the inefficiencies inherent in the current Byzantine system. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, an advisory body on whose recommendations HHS is statutorily required to rely, opposes any delay in administrative simplification. In a June 29, 2001, letter to Secretary Thompson, NCVHS stated, “It is imperative that we continue to promote the urgency of working on the implementation of standards and not undermine current implementation efforts.” Advocates for delay have argued that hospitals are not prepared for administrative simplification. Yet just last week the entire hospital industry released a letter opposing a delay, arguing that “any legislative delay of the electronic transactions standards would unfairly penalize hospitals and health systems that have made the significant commitment of financial and staff resources necessary to meet the current October 2002 compliance deadline.” This position is supported by the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the Federation of American Hospitals, Premier, Inc., and VHA Inc. Indeed, any delay has the potential of resulting in an indefinite delay as the advocates for the status quo will inevitably invent more excuses to further delay this sensible change when the next deadline approaches. We urge you to oppose any delays to HIPAA administrative simplification. |