President Obama signs Stimulus Package into Law February 18, 2009 Diana Manos, Senior Editor - See Full story on Healthcare News DENVER – President Barack Obama signed the massive $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law Tuesday at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The law sets aside $19.2 billion for healthcare IT and more than $100 billion for other healthcare measures, including Medicaid funding and subsidies to help unemployed workers afford healthcare coverage through COBRA. The law includes a provision to make permanent the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The office had been operating under a presidential executive order since 2004. "Because we know that spiraling healthcare costs are crushing families and businesses alike, we're taking the most meaningful steps in years towards modernizing our healthcare system," Obama told supporters following the signing. "It's an investment that will take the long overdue step of computerizing America's medical records to reduce the duplication and waste that costs billions of healthcare dollars and medical errors that cost thousands of lives each year." The President said the law makes "a historic commitment to wellness initiatives" by investing in chronic disease prevention. |
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