The Machinery Behind Health-Care Reform ( read--LOBBYISTS!!)

[snowdays]

And Pres. Obama campaigned against Washington LOBBYISTS ---yet here they are-helping to write bills.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/15/AR2009051503667.html?hpid=topnews

Tracking the National Health-Care Debate

The Machinery Behind Health-Care Reform
How an Industry Lobby Scored a Swift, Unexpected Victory by Channeling Billions to Electronic Records

By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 16, 2009

When President Obama won approval for his $787 billion stimulus package in February, large sections of the 407-page bill focused on a push for new technology that would not stimulate the economy for years.

The inclusion of as much as $36.5 billion in spending to create a nationwide network of electronic health records fulfilled one of Obama's key campaign promises -- to launch the reform of America's costly health-care system.

But it was more than a political victory for the new administration. It also represented a triumph for an influential trade group whose members now stand to gain billions in taxpayer dollars.

A Washington Post review found that the trade group, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, had worked closely with technology vendors, researchers and other allies in a sophisticated, decade-long campaign to shape public opinion and win over Washington's political machinery.

With financial backing from the industry, they started advocacy groups, generated research to show the potential for massive savings and met routinely with lawmakers and other government officials. Their proposals made little headway in Congress, in part because of the complexity of the issues and questions about whether the technology and federal subsidies would work as billed.

As the downturn worsened last year, advocates helped persuade Obama's advisers to dust off electronic records legislation that had stalled in Congress -- legislation that the advocates had a hand in writing, the Post review found. ...........