On March 3, 2011 the House voted to overturn the 1099 provision which required hospitals and other business to file paperwork for every vendor transaction of $600 or more. The requirement was originally included in the health care reform law to recover an estimated $17 billion in unreported income. The legislation would have put a tremendous administrative burden on small business, with an estimated increase of paperwork responsibilities of 2,000%.
The Senate repealed this provision in a FAA reauthorization bill but they are still discussing the changes to the health care reform law since there is controversy on how to pay for the repeal. The repeal will cost about $22 billion over 10 years, and the House bill sought to recoup the money from overpayments to taxpayer funded health insurance exchange subsidies.
The administrative savings that would be engendered by this change may be negated if the reduced payments to the insurance exchanges translate into reduced payments to healthcare facilities and providers. This poses yet another challenge to drugs and devices that are not the lowest cost option, and their value message has to speak to the changing forces their customers are facing.
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