Porter, who heads the House Government Reform Committee's Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, said the program would become "the largest [health information technology] demonstration project in the country." The program covers about 4 million current and retired federal employees.

Under his bill, each person covered would get a wallet-size EHR identification card within five years of the law's enactment.

Speaking at a committee hearing on health IT, Porter said the bill would phase in the EHR requirement, beginning with records of claims paid by the participating insurance companies. "The other components, a personal health record and a provider-based record, will be phased in accordingly," he said.

Read the full story at Government Health IT

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