House Bill Proposes Halt to ICD-10 Implementation

A new bill, H.R.2126 has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that would prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from replacing ICD-9 with ICD-10. The current deadline for ICD-10 implementation is Oct. 1, 2015. Introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) on April 30, H.R. 2126 has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means. According to the Journal of AHIMA post, this new bill could face difficulty getting through the committee process and to the House floor for a vote. Rep. Poe is not on either referred committee, so would need to get a critical mass number of co-sponsors to support the bill, or find a champion on one of the two committees, for H.R. 2126 to even be considered by the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees. If taken up by one of the committees, a hearing would take place to debate the bill and possibly add amendments or modifications. If the bill still has support, it would be sent to the House floor for a vote. An exclusive survey recently done by Healthcare Informatics, found that doctors—many of whom have come out against ICD-10—are not backing down in their distaste for the mandate.