Now that he's out of office, former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson can tell us what he thinks the government should do. Now a consultant, Thompson told a meeting of insurance executives and health industry insiders that the government could partially fund electronic medical records programs by using money collected from healthcare fraud and abuse investigations. Under the present system, the $1.8 billion which HHS currently collects is handed over to the Department of Justice. Thompson said the money could go instead to a national account for implementing EMR technology. He also had some ideas about paying for catastrophic insurance.
- see this story from the Nashville Business Journal