Stimulus Plan Could Put $44,000 in Your Doctor’s Pocket
Posted on 24. Feb, 2009 by admin in Provider News
No time to comb the stimulus bill for your own opportunities & pitfalls? Kenneth Engel lays them out for you.
The stimulus bill that’s gotten so much press recently offers potentially huge paydays for medical practices, and we’ve got the numbers for you.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 (ARRA) has some good news for medical practices across the country–over $25 billion will go toward healthcare initiatives.
Opportunities for Cash: The stimulus bill will offer annual bonuses for five years to physicians who participate in the federal healthcare programs (such as Medicare) that use meaningful electronic health records (EHRs).
Over the five year period, this amount could total $44,000″If the government determines your first bonus year as being in 2011 or 2012, your first payment will be $18,000,” explains Allison Larro, Esq., an Atlanta attorney. The second year, you’d collect $12,000, followed by smaller amounts each of the remaining three years, she advises.
Plus: If you don’t adopt EHRs by 2014, you’ll face financial penalties.
HIPAA: Because EHRs could potentially put patient privacy at risk, the bill also strengthens the HIPAA requirements that practices face,increasing penalties for privacy breaches, and creating restrictions on how you can share protected health information.Withholding: The bill delays implementation of the three-percent withholding tax that Medicare providers faced. Instead of being subjectto the tax in 2010, you now have until Dec. 31, 2011 before you’ll be subject to the withholding.
To read the full text of the stimulus plan, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app09.html.
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