WASHINGTON – Congressional budget talks are at an impasse. Both sides are in a blame-glaring staring contest. Perhaps neither wants to shut down the federal government, but the threat seems to be settling in like a rain cloud over the nation's capital.
“People are preparing for a shutdown,” said Mary Lamb, COO of Suss Consulting, which has a health IT line of business within its federal market management consulting practice. “The budget situation is very unique right now.”
On Wednesday the White House played the obvious card, saying that closing the government would harm the economy. To that, both Republicans and Democrats agree.
More to the point: Would a shutdown – should it actually happen – hurt federal health IT, and if so, would it be enough to have any lasting impact?
The answer: It depends on whether the threatened closure – like four of the six that have taken place since 1980 – lasts three days or fewer.
[Video: Welcome to the new Government Health IT.com!]
In the event of a brief closing, several experts interviewed agreed there is little threat of long-term implications for federal health IT.
“From the perspective of federal health agencies, they cannot afford not to serve patients,” Lamb said, adding that in her experience working with agencies such as the Defense Department, Health and Human Services and the VA, they are “very committed to clinical care.”
For that reason, Lamb said she expects that such federal employees would be categorized as “essential” personnel and be able to continue working.
Indeed, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said Wednesday that Medicare and Medicaid would continue operating for the time being.
Beyond a short closing, though, the future gets murkier. OMB officials gave no long-term guarantees about Medicare and Medicaid, explaining that the programs have funding other than from the appropriation process that has Congress embattled – but the salaries of those employees are part of the annual budget.
What’s more, on the federal IT side is a multitude of applications, computers, servers and websites, many of which would not be operated by IT workers during the furlough. “Only those websites that are part of the essential activities will continue to operate,” The New York Times reported, quoting a senior official.
And of the 800,000 government workers projected to be affected, no numbers have been published yet to suggest how many would be IT-related.
[Related: ONC’s Federal Health IT Plan: Possible in a reasonable timeframe? See also: Direct pilots say e-mail piece easy, integration takes work.]
What does all this mean? Short-term impacts of a shutdown would likely be minimal to federal health IT, but long-term impacts are tougher to speculate.
That uncertainty is one of many reasons the majority of Americans are hoping that Democrats and Republicans settle, if they must, to keep the government operating. That’s according to a national survey of 1,507 adults, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press between March 30 and April 3.
"Most (55 percent) want the lawmakers they agree with on this issue to be more willing to compromise, even if it means they pass a budget they disagree with,” Pew researchers wrote in the report Public would blame both sides if the government shuts down. “Far fewer (36 percent) want the lawmakers they agree with to stand by their principles, even if it means the government shuts down.”
Editor’s note: Can ONC deliver on its federal health IT plan, or not? Come vote in the new reader poll on our homepage, please!
