Joe Biden Announces Grants for Electronic Medical Records

According to this article in ABC News Vice President Joe Biden will announce nearly $1.2 billion in government grants to help hospitals transitions to electronic medical records. This is a way for for the White House to finally demonstrate how the taxpayers dollars will be spent. Joe Biden mentioned "With electronic health records, we are making health care safer, we're making it more efficient, we're making you healthier and we're saving money along the way."

The Vice President also made the argument that paper records take up too much time and is prone for medical errors. Electronic medical health records will definitely ease communication between physicians and patients in the near future.

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White House Backs Away from Gov't-Run Insurance

Andrew Zajac of The LA Times reports that the Obama administration signaled Sunday that it was on the verge of abandoning a government-run insurance option in its healthcare overhaul -- a bow to political reality and a big win for insurers.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNN's "State of the Union" that a public option is "not the essential element" of healthcare overhaul, but that lowering insurance costs and preventing insurers from dumping customers for preexisting conditions or for exceeding coverage caps are must-haves.

Should the Obama Administration stay out of the healthcare insurance business, or should privatized insurance be the pathway towards better healthcare?

White House backs off public healthcare option