Opponents to the new economic stimulus bill are concerned that the plan could result in the rationing of health care. Obama’s stimulus plan is supposed to make all health records electronic in the hope that this measure would cut costs and reduce medical errors.

 

According to the plan, each person in the United States will have an electronic health care record (HER) by 2014.

The legislation will spend $1.1 billion to establish a Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, an organization that will gather all federal health programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and S-CHIP. The council will have members from various federal agencies.

 

“One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and 'guide' your doctor's decisions,” according to the plan.

 

The bill also specifies that doctors would have to consult federally approved guidelines to determine the appropriate treatment for a certain patient. The National Coordinator of Health Information Technology will monitor treatments to make sure that doctors are choosing the treatment which is considered the most appropriate, as well as cost effective by the federal government.

 

Supporters of the stimulus bill say the goal is to reduce medical costs and to ‘guide’ the doctors’ decisions.

The bill is based on an UK model, which puts cost before treatment and medical care.