Senators launch bill to provide EHR program relief

Legislation launched by 6 Senators aims to provide regulatory relief and flexibility for hospitals that are attempting to meet obligations of the federal meaningful use program.

The senators late Wednesday revealed the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Regulatory Relief Act (S. 3173), showing that they gave the bill to bring few of the relief declared for physicians to the hospital sector.

The 6 Republican senators belong to a group that released a report 3 years ago recommending changes required in federal policy strategies to victoriously adopt healthcare information technology, and are called as REBOOT members.

Sponsors of the legislation involve Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Pat Roberts (R-KN) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA).

The authors of the bill claim that regulatory flexibility is required to assist hospitals and medical providers concentrate on transitioning into the patient-focused payment policies made by Congress in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

Those launching the bill recommended that they’ve got cooperation from the administration in crafting the bill, which targets to address near-term relief for hospitals dealing with the program.

 “I am thankful for the administration’s willingness to give constructive feedback and involve with Senate REBOOT members on this significant piece of legislation,” states Thune.

In the month of April, the senators wrote Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt to request input on a draft bill, and with the feedback they got, established the version that was launched yesterday.

The legislation “will offer hospitals the similar flexibility that Congress passed for doctors with overwhelming bipartisan support last April, and it’ll give doctors and hospitals the certainty of law that the ninety day reporting window for meaningful use earlier this month is here to stay,” claims Alexander, who is chair of the Senate health committee.

The proposed legislation would:

• Codify the proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to set a ninety day reporting period for the year of 2016.


• Offer flexibility in the hardship exemption that gives relief to contributors for the years of 2016 and 2017.


• Eliminate the all-or-nothing approach to meaningful use, in which missing attainment of 1 objective results in failure to acquire incentive funding from the program.

 “One-size-fits-all regulation is jeopardizing the complete potential for electronic health records (EHRs) to improve care for North Carolinians,” Burr states. “I am happy to be working with my co-workers to advance common-sense policy that will offer flexibility and better support North Carolina’s hospitals and doctors in what is most significant—giving quality care to North Carolinians.”

“As a doctor, I know firsthand how bureaucratic obstacles can interrupt with patient care,” Cassidy further adds. “This legislation will decrease those regulatory burdens on contributors, permitting them to better serve sufferers.”