Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008--Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
MEDICARE IMPROVEMENTS FOR PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - July 09, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise in strong support of this legislation vitally needed from one end of the country to the other. Ask doctors who will face a significant cut, ask pharmacists who are going bankrupt because they are not being paid appropriately, and ask, most of all, our Medicare patients who will not have the ability to visit doctor after doctor after doctor.
This legislation is essential, and it is compromise legislation. The other side says ``compromise''? Sixty percent of the cuts come from medical education--something near and dear to me and my State. Only 40 percent comes from fee for service. Yet they say: Compromise. Do you know what compromise is to the other side, those opposed here? They want it all. All the money should come out of IME, none out of fee for service, or they will not budge.
Who is hurt when they play this political game? Millions of senior citizens. I would prefer to have all the money come out of fee for service. So would Chairman Rangel. So would many others from States such as mine that have medical education. But we are willing to go part of the way for the seniors.
I say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Substantively and politically, this is among the worst votes that you will take if you oppose this legislation; among the very worst both substantively because it hurts our seniors and cripples Medicare, and politically because people really care about this. I have never seen organizations such as the AMA, the pharmacists, and the AARP in unison.
So I would urge at least one of my colleagues from across the aisle to reconsider for the sake of those who work so hard in the health care field and, most of all, for the sake of our senior citizens.
This bill is essential to keep things going in Medicare. I know there may be some who want to get rid of Medicare, but most of us want to fight to preserve it. If you care about Medicare, if you care about seniors, if you care about fair pay for pharmacists and doctors, the only vote is yes.
I yield the floor.
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