• Bipartisan Health IT Legislation Passes By Voice Vote in Senate
• House Small Business Committee Chairman Voices Compliance Concerns to IRS
• Taking a Moment to Breathe, Congress Leaves Much Up in the Air
• November Member Poll: Finding Financing – What’s Your Opinion?

Bipartisan Health IT Legislation Passes By Voice Vote in Senate

Last week the Senate passed S. 1418, the Wired for Health Care Quality Act, by a voice vote. The bill was a combination of measures proposed by senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Bill Frist (R-TN), Michael Enzi (R-WY), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). The legislation calls for an increase in technology and communication among hospitals about patients nationwide with private, electronic patient records. The bill provides incentives for those providers willing to implement this technology. “Medical costs are increasing at an alarming rate in this country. We must find ways to make the system more efficient,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the NASE legislative offices. “Advances in health information technology provide both a cost-effective and life-saving solution to a growing problem.” If signed into law, it would establish an Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology within the Department of Health and Human Services. Grants will be offered to make upgrades in technology, and privacy guidelines have been outlined. Privacy concerns had been a hindrance in passing the bill and amendments were added to ensure those concerns would be addressed. David Brailer, Bush’s national coordinator of health information technology, said the technology may reduce health care costs by $140 billion a year. “The biggest benefit is that it’s going to allow the medical data to move with the people as they move,” said Enzi. “This bill will do as much as anything we have done in this Congress…to cut waste and inefficiency out of our health care system.” The NASE has supported this legislation since it was introduced earlier this year and applauds its passage in the Senate. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House but so far is not on the calendar for consideration. House proponents are hopeful that the bill will be voted on by the end of the year. Tell your Members of Congress how you feel about advances in health information technology by visiting the online NASE Legislative Action Center at http://advocacy.NASE.org. House Small Business Committee Chairman Voices Compliance Concerns to IRS Donald Manzullo Last Friday, House Small Business Committee Chairman Donald Manzullo (R-IL) sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Mark Everson cautioning him about S Corporation audits. The IRS, as a study of compliance for S Corporations, plans to randomly select 5,000 S Corporations for an exhaustive audit, with a particular focus on 1st and 2nd year S Corporations. Manzullo said that it is unacceptable that the IRS focus its compliance efforts on small business, particularly new S Corporations, without first updating its estimates of the "tax gap" for large corporations. He recommends a study of compliance of all taxpayers including C corporations, Limited Liability Companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships to release a comprehensive study. The NASE believes that micro-businesses need a simpler tax system and more education and assistance to improve tax compliance and lessen the tax gap. “The more assistance offered to taxpayers and the simpler it is to understand and comply with tax laws, the more taxpayers will accurately meet their tax obligations,” said NASE tax consultant, Keith Hall, in Congressional testimony earlier this year. “Increased enforcement at the expense of taxpayer education will not in the long term accomplish sustained, improved compliance.” In addition to testifying before the House Small Business Committee this year, the NASE submitted testimony to the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. The NASE continues to monitor the tax gap situation and possible solutions. For more information on the NASE position on tax reform, visit http://advocacy.NASE.org. Taking a Moment to Breathe, Congress Leaves Much Up in the Air As Congress left for a two-week recess last week, many are left wondering what exactly is going to happen by the end of the year. Both the House and Senate passed spending cut packages of $49.9 billion and $35 billion, respectively, but both bills look very different. The House made most cuts to entitlement programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and student loans, while the Senate spread cuts across other programs, including Medicare. In order for the spending cuts to become law, the House and Senate have to compromise on their two different bills and decide on one bill that they can both pass. The bills will enter into this conference process after recess. Both the House and Senate also passed tax relief packages before leaving for recess. However, these will also have to be negotiated in conference. Both bills included measures that would extend the higher expensing limit of $100,000 through 2009 and gave another temporary reprieve to about 14 million middle-income taxpayers who would otherwise have to pay the alternative minimum tax. Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) successfully boosted the Small Business Administration (SBA) budget above what President Bush had called for. Even so, SBA funding is $123 million less than last year. “The favorite target for President Bush’s budget axe is small business. Since taking office, he’s tried to cut the SBA’s funding in half. The result is that over the last five years, the SBA has been cut more than any other agency,” Kerry said. Confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito, are not scheduled to begin until early January but Congress will have a lot on its plate in the next few weeks anyway. Tell your Members of Congress what you think by visiting the online NASE Legislative Action Center at http://advocacy.NASE.org. November Member Poll: Finding Financing – What’s Your Opinion? Tell the NASE how you have handled the financing of your business in this month’s online poll. Let the NASE know your opinions by visiting the MyNASE Web site at http://my.NASE.org/. Log in to your free MyNASE Web Account. If you have not set up an account, you can do so at http://my.NASE.org/ with your member number. Let your voice be heard in the association by taking this survey during the month of November.