Senate passes Health IT legislation

In a unanimous vote, the Senate passed the Wired for Health Care Quality Act (S.1418), legislation that would increase federal funding for healthcare IT. The legislation, which has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, grants official recognition to Dr. David Brailer's Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology and authorizes spending on health IT projects. Some critics have charged the bill doesn't go far enough, reasoning that government spending must be increased in order for the effort to have any impact. The measure now moves to the House.

- see this entry from the Library of Congress' THOMAS
- and this release from the Congressional Budget Office