Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 838, I call up the bill (S. 610) to address behavioral health and well-being among health care professionals, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. 610.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 610, the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act, which will, among other things, extend additional relief to Medicare providers in 2022 to support providers during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

In 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made changes to how different physician services were valued relative to one another in the Medicare payment system. While physicians performing many primary care services saw an increase in payments as a result of these changes, other providers saw fairly substantial reductions which were not phased in.

That is why last year, Congress provided a 3.75 percent increase in the Medicare conversion factor, as a transition to the providers that were most affected.

This legislation continues that glidepath, with a 3 percent 1-year increase in the Medicare conversion factor, providing a bump in payments. With the new COVID variant emerging here in the United States, this will be important support for our frontline workers.

This legislation also eliminates the Medicare sequester, the 2 percent cut slated to take effect in January, and instead provides a glidepath by fully eliminating the cut in the first quarter and phasing it down to 1 percent in the second quarter.

Lastly, the legislation imposes a 1-year delay on clinical laboratory reductions and a radiation oncology payment model to provide additional time to adjust to these new policies. These commonsense provisions were also included in the legislation that I am proud to have introduced earlier today, along with my colleague, Congresswoman Schrier. These provisions have strong support from the medical community, physicians, and hospitals, because those in the healthcare field recognize that we must ensure providers have the support they need to care for patients as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. A letter from 20 surgical groups notes: ``We urge Congress to pass the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Funds Act to mitigate the 2022 Medicare payment cuts.''

This legislation will also provide a procedure for the Senate to raise the debt ceiling. This deal was struck by Senate Republican Leader McConnell.

As much as my colleagues across the aisle may claim, this is not about new spending. Increasing the debt ceiling will prevent us from defaulting on debt we already owe.

It is about investments that Congress previously approved. In fact, 97 percent of the current debt was accumulated before President Biden assumed office. This vote is about protecting the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

A default would spell disaster. Nearly 50 million seniors could stop receiving Social Security checks for a period of time. Troops could go unpaid. Millions of families who rely on the monthly child tax credit, a tax cut, could see delays. Our current economic recovery could reverse into recession, with billions of dollars of growth and millions of jobs lost. According to an analysis by Moody's Analytics chief economist, Mark Zandi, the recession could wipe out as many as 6 million jobs and erase $15 trillion in household wealth.

I am proud to stand in strong support of this bipartisan agreement that will end the specter of default looming over the American economy and the American people.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the distinguished chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I just remind the gentleman, when we talk about bipartisanship, this side of the aisle worked in a bipartisan way to pass a bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that only 13 Republicans voted in favor of and more than 200 Republicans voted against.

Tonight, we are providing a solution to protect the healthcare providers in my home State of Nevada, in States all across the country, including in the prior speaker's home State of Missouri. If he won't vote to fix that problem, I will, because this is about solving a problem, not creating another one.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. I have one additional speaker.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the great State of Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, if there is one thing that we have heard so often, it is doctors who have sacrificed during this period of the pandemic, who have maintained their offices. We often hear in public settings and private settings about the cuts that they are expecting and how much it will undermine the work that they do, their offices' expenses.

I am very glad that, rather than talking, the Democrats are working together to ensure that the Medicare sequester payments will not occur and that we will protect against that, as we will do for the farmers.

But here is the point: The pandemic continues. Doctors in private practice are trying to survive. This is a crucial decision and relief that is long overdue.

I want to be able to say to my physicians that Democrats care. And I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will do as much acting on doctors and medicine and healthcare as they will talking.

Tonight, we need to act to provide the safety net for these physicians. I support this legislation, supporting the healthcare providers during this COVID-19 pandemic.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I will close by stating that, yes, Democrats are delivering. We are delivering for the American people. We are delivering in the time of a pandemic. We are delivering to restore public confidence in our public institutions and to help our economy recover. This bill is about important and responsible measures to deliver for the American people.

When the Republicans had the majority in the House, the Senate, and the White House, they chose to spend their time giving tax cuts to the very wealthy, to big corporations that provided little benefit to average Americans and to small businesses.

Now with Democrats in charge, we are delivering for the American people.

I urge my colleagues to support this important and responsible measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source