Bera Votes to Protect Seniors, Speaks Out Against Disappointing Partisan Politics

Press Release

Congressman Ami Bera M.D. voted today in favor of the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014. After months of unprecedented bipartisan, bicameral work in Congress to reach an unprecedented bipartisan solution, House leadership this week tied a hyper-partisan amendment to the bill. Bera made the following comment:

"As a doctor, I know firsthand how critical strengthening Medicare is for our seniors, and I'm profoundly disappointed that instead of doing the right thing, Congressional leaders played politics with seniors' health care today. By tying an extremely partisan amendment to this important bill, they've made it unlikely to ever be signed into law. We must honor the promises we have made to our seniors so they can get the health care they deserve after a lifetime of hard work. That's why I voted today to fix a system that has been broken for more than a decade and to give doctors the ability to continue to care for Medicare patients."

Over time, Congress has spent a staggering $153.7 billion to shore up the ailing system, all while the gap between what Medicare pays and the actual cost of caring for patients has grown ever wider. Today, Medicare payments to physicians are falling 25 percent below the rate of practice cost inflation. In the meantime, one out of every four Medicare patients is struggling to find a primary care physician.

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