WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) today commented on a letter the committee recently received from the Office of the National Coordinator regarding its proposal to expand its regulatory jurisdiction around health information technology. At a hearing on 21st Century Technology for 21st Century Cures, Blackburn noted that the ONC failed to address the concerns outlined by the committee in a letter sent on June 3, 2014. The letter questioned the ONC’s authority to expand its regulatory role in the Health IT space. The letter read, “it is not clear to us under what statutory authority ONC is now pursuing these enhanced regulatory authorities, including levying of new user fees, on Health IT." Of the response from ONC, Blackburn said, “We felt like they really don’t know where they have that authority."
Read the complete response from the ONC online here.
