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Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Date: Nov. 19, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net Health and Health Care

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act.

We've all heard from our constituents how important their relationship is with their doctor. We have a system that works--over 45 million people across the country depend on Medicare for that doctor-patient relationship.

Yet every year this doctor-patient relationship is threatened by excessive cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates. Every year we wait until the last minute to address it in Congress. Meanwhile, patients worry that they will lose access to their doctors. And doctors worry about how they will be able to continue to serve their patients.

This bill will permanently fix this problem--so that we don't have to put patients and their doctors through this yearly ritual, and Medicare recipients will have continuous access to their doctors. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this legislation.

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