Blackburn Acts to Provide Healthcare Certainty for Medicare Enrollees

Statement

House Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) today joined her House colleagues in approving a plan to permanently replace Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). Blackburn made the following comments on House passage of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act:

"We have all heard from constituents that tell us stories of the difficulties they've had finding a doctor who is taking new Medicare patients. SGR -- the Sustainable Growth Rate -- has shared responsibility for this. The constant threat of double digit cuts in reimbursements has made it difficult for doctors to keep their doors open and see seniors.

"H.R. 2 goes to heart of this access problem by finally eliminating the flawed SGR. It's a win-win-win for seniors, local healthcare providers, and hard-working taxpayers. The legislation approved by the House today is a common sense solution that provides certainty for healthcare providers and Medicare enrollees. In addition, by incentivizing doctors to keep the focus on quality over quantity of care we will keep healthcare costs down.

"As part of the SGR negotiations, I was pleased to lead the Tennessee delegation in a bipartisan, bicameral effort to protect access for the poor to Tennessee hospitals. Every state but Tennessee receives a Medicaid disproportionate share payment (DSH). Medicaid DSH payments are paid to qualifying hospitals that serve a large number of Medicaid and uninsured individuals. These payments are critical to the rural hospitals in Tennessee's Seventh Congressional District. In the past year, four Tennessee hospitals have closed or announced closure -- all four were rural hospitals. While this legislation does not fully restore the Tennessee Medicaid DSH payment, it does provide certainty for these hospitals and the poor that they serve, for the next 10 years."

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