Healthcare Reform to Drive Government IT spending

by Elias Shams
A positive and promising report by Reston-based INPUT was released yesterday that indicates a boost in IT spending and consequently the employment.

The report says the recently passed healthcare reform bill will force federal, state and local governments to invest more than $5 billion in information technology over the next five years to meet new requirements.

Based on the numerous requirements for reform, IT investments are likely to occur within the first five years of implementation. The IRS, alone, will need spend as much as $2.5 billion on IT related to eligibility determination, documentation and verification processes, while the Department of Health and Human Services will spend about $1.8 billion to implement changes to Medicare, Medicaid and related systems.