Senate Moves Forward on 1099 Repeal

A look at the week of February 7 in public advocacy for the IT channel

This week, the Senate voted to repeal the 1099 provision from the healthcare bill.  After watching the Egyptian government dismantle Internet communications to stifle protestors, Senators are facing tough questions about the scope of proposed cybersecurity regulations.  Dr. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, will step down from his position. 

Senate Moves Forward on 1099 Repeal — The Senate voted Wednesday for the first time to repeal a piece of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, rolling back an onerous tax reporting requirement that’s been panned universally by business owners and criticized by CompTIA. The amendment to repeal the 1099 reporting requirement passed 81-17 with broad bipartisan support, says Politico. The Senate’s previous attempts at repeal failed amid partisan bickering over how to pay for it. Republicans tried to repeal the provision by taking money from the health reform law’s prevention and wellness fund while Democrats tried to repeal it without paying for it. Read more on what steps the repeal now has to take and CompTIA's congressional testimony on the repeal.

Experts Weigh in on “Kill Switch” Cybersecurity Legislation — In the last session of Congress, senators proposed a national center for cybersecurity run by an executive with the authority to order private companies to shut down critical infrastructure, including the Internet. That move drew significant attention when the world watched the Egyptian government shut down all Internet access as protesters took to the streets, says The Washington Post.  Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE) issued a statement on February 1 decrying the Egypt's actions and clarifying that they believe the bill would not grant the President the same power to interfere with free Web access.

National Health IT Coordinator To Step Down— Dr. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, will step down in the spring from his position leading the federal program to drive adoption of electronic health records by the nation’s physicians and hospital, reports Government Health IT.  Blumenthal has steered the development of criteria for meaningful use of electronic health records in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and public and private partnerships.