Political Quotes

“we have before us today a reasonable and balanced bill that provides the final push for an idea that my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Sawyer), and myself have been working on for 7 years: The simplification of paperwork associated with paying health care costs. In 1993, my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio, began to develop legislation that would create a standard framework for electronic filing of health care claims. Today, we all recognize electronic health care filing represents significant advantages over paper filings for every level of health care, from providers to insurance. However, the patchwork of different computer systems needed to electronically file claims with different health care payers made the process a complicated, expensive, and unwieldy situation. In 1996, our work culminated in the administrative simplification provisions included in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which required a common format for electronic health care claims. This would have the effect of simplifying the administrative burden associated with health care transactions, and would, according to the Health Care Financing Administration at the time, produce $9.9 billion in savings for the health care community. By reducing administrative overhead, we also help improve the quality of health care by freeing up resources now devoted to paperwork and administration.”