By a vote of 61 – 37 the U.S. Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. More troubling than the amount of pork contained in the bill was a provision that will affect “every individual in the United States,” and dramatically alter the way that doctors practice medicine. The bill allocates $20 billion to establish the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology. The role of the coordinator goes much further than computerizing the health records of all Americans. As former Lieutenant Governor of New York, Becky McCaughey, points out in her commentary on Bloomberg.com, the new office will “monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective.” See her article that triggered an avalanche of calls, emails and faxes to Capitol Hill.

For a look at the actual provision of the bill, click here.

There is still time, but not much, to get this provision removed during the reconciliation process between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The only way this will happen is for at least two of the three Republican senators who voted in favor of the bill to threaten to vote No if this provision is not removed. Let them know how you feel about government-run healthcare.

Send emails to the three senators through their websites:

Senator Susan Collins: Click here to email Senator Collins.

Senator Olympia Snowe: Click here to email Senator Stowe.

Senator Arlen Specter: Click here to email Senator Specter.

Sixty percent of the private insurance healthcare dollar goes toward physician and hospital services, and fourteen percent goes toward both prescription drugs and administrative costs.

Other spending includes dental services, other professional services, home healthcare, durable medical products, over-the-counter medicines and sundries, public health activities, research and construction.

Over the past five years, hospital care has been the largest spending category, representing about 30 percent of annual healthcare expenditures.

Historically, the growth rates of all NHE payment components have been higher than the growth rates of both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and wages and salaries.

Note: CMS defines each as follows: Out-of-pocket payments includes direct spending by consumers for all healthcare goods and services, including coinsurance, deductibles and any amounts not covered by insurance. Private health insurance equals premiums earned by private health insurers, including premiums paid to BCBS, commercial insurance, HMOs, self-insured plans and property/casualty insurance coverage for healthcare. Public payments are payments made by Federal, State and Local governments. Other private funds are funds received through philanthropic support, as well as income from the operation of gift shops, cafeterias, parking lots and educational programs.

Other spending includes dental services, other professional services, home healthcare, durable medical products, over-the-counter medicines and sundries, public health activities, research and construction.

Public payments (Medicare, Medicaid and other public sources) account for 46 percent of the nation’s healthcare dollar; private health insurance accounts for 35 percent.

On a per capita basis, National Health Expenditure grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 6.8 percent between 2002 and 2006.

The National Health Expenditure (NHE) is projected to nearly double between 2006 and 2015, with healthcare expected to account for 20 percent of GDP by 2015.

National Health Expenditure measures the total amount spent in the U.S. to purchase healthcare goods and services during the year. The amount invested in medical sector structures and equipment and in non-commercial research in the United States is also included.