On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, which extends health care coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured individuals and makes coverage more affordable for many others. Section 1561 required HHS, in consultation with the Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee and the HIT Standards Committee, to develop interoperable and secure standards and protocols that facilitate electronic enrollment of individuals in Federal and State health and human services programs.
The HIT Policy and Standards Committees approved initial recommendations on August 19, 2010 and August 30, 2010 respectively. On September 17, 2010, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius adopted these recommendations with slight edits. These recommendations include initial standards and protocols that encourage adoption of modern electronic systems and processes that allow a consumer to seamlessly obtain and maintain the full range of available health coverage and other human services benefits.
2011/01/10
