Federal budget battle won't threaten MU dollars

Despite threats from fiscal conservatives to withdraw unspent money from President Obama's stimulus legislation, it is highly unlikely that Congress will cut off future funding of Medicare and Medicaid subsidies for Meaningful Use of electronic health records, according to a key health IT lobbyist. Recent speculation has suggested that deficit hawks in Congress could refuse to appropriate EHR incentive money in the 2012 federal budget. Even though the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorizes a net $27 billion in spending to support EHR adoption through 2017, lawmakers must fund the program each year. But withdrawing the cash would not be simple.