Health IT in both versions of the stimulus

Health IT is in both the House version of the stimulus bill and a Senate version due for passage today.

While the Senate trimmed $3 billion from what committees had suggested, most of the money is still there.  

There is also some magic in the analysis of the Congressional Budget Office, namely an assumption that $15 billion will be saved annually by 2016 solely because of the technology investment.

The President is going on the offensive this week to push the package, but Republicans in both houses remain mainly opposed. Gallup has the President at a 67% approval rating and business lobbyists are lining up in favor of the package. Grassroots activists in both parties remain opposed, liberals saying it's too little and conservatives that it's too big.

Regardless of which version of the bill comes through it's likely that federal stimulus spending will be a sizable portion of the health IT marketplace over the next two years. How that will change the market has yet to be seen.