White House wants $78 million for ONC next year

The Obama administration asked for $78 million to run the Office of the National Coordinator in its fiscal 2011 budget released yesterday, a $17 million bump-up from last year's budget for the health IT office.

The 28 percent boost was an exception to more modest increases for agencies and programs associated with health IT. The administration requested $81 billion for the Health and Human Services Department - a $2.3 billion increase over last year. That excludes entitlements such as Medicare as well as funding for health IT incentives included in last year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ONC has been shepherding grant programs fueled by $2 billion in ARRA funds to assist healthcare providers deploy EHRs. The HHS budget will build on that. In delivering the budget, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius remarked that the health IT was essential for modernizing the healthcare system. "The increase will enable ONC to lead and coordinate federal health IT efforts while implementing and evaluating Recovery Act health IT programs," she said. HHS also proposed $80 million of its budget for the Health Resources and Services Administration to expand health IT adoption in community health centers, which often serve people who are under-insured or have no health insurance.