Van Hollen Votes To Protect Seniors' Access To Doctors
Press Release
Van Hollen Votes To Protect Seniors' Access To Doctors
Today Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) issued the following statement on House passage of the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, which will preserve seniors' access to their doctors by fixing the way Medicare pays physicians:
"The bill we passed today will accomplish two very important things -- provide a long-term fix to the Medicare physician reimbursement problem and implement statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules to promote long-term fiscal responsibility for our nation.
"Permanent reform of the flawed Medicare physician payment formulas is necessary to ensure that beneficiaries can see their doctor of choice and protect access to care. Consistent with the House Budget Resolution and President Obama's recommendation, this bill uses realistic and responsible assumptions about future Medicare spending on physician services. The choice is clear: We need to fix this problem honestly today and not continue to kick the can down the down the road.
"As we put Medicare physician payments on a sustainable path, we must tend to the fiscal health of our nation. The day President Obama was sworn into office, he inherited huge deficits and exploding debt in this country. The previous administration wanted to put everything on our national credit card and ask future generations to pay for it. It is the legacy of this irresponsible spending that has left us with today's historic federal debt.
"Digging out of this economic ditch will take time, but it is important that we put our economy on a long-term, sustainable path. PAYGO will do that by requiring policies that result in revenue reduction or increased mandatory spending be offset over the next five and ten years. It will force Congress to evaluate the tradeoffs inherent in its financial decisions and make hard choices, just like any family in America. I am proud to have joined my colleagues in passing this important legislation."
Source