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Hello,

For anyone interested, the report dated February 24 of the Senate
special committee on year 2000 technology proglems is available in
PDF format at
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/02/y2k.report/

A CNN news story summarizing the report is at http://www.y2knews.com.

Here's just a few sentences on what the report says about health
care, which is described as the sector lagging furthest in Y2K
readiness.

The U.S. pharmaceutical industries are well prepared, but are
vulnerable due to:

* dependence on foreign sources for 80% of basic ingredients

* use of the just-in-time inventory process, and

* complex relationships with numerous other business partners who
themselves must be ready.

Insurance companies, Medicaid (depending on what state you live in)
and, in particular, Medicare are lagging in preparation, as are
hospitals serving poor areas.

In physician offices there could be problems in some diagnostic
equipment, which is not being tested for Y2K as in hospitals, and in
computer claim-filing systems. If it becomes necessary to revert to
paper claims filing on a large scale, the payors would be swamped.

All of this bears close watching.

Phil Tompkins
Hoboken NJ
age 61/dx 1990