Earlier today, Republican Congressman Peter Roskam voted to cut Medicare payments to physicians, putting at risk access to care and choice of physician for the nations senior citizens, for disabled persons served by Medicare, and for families of U.S. military personnel receiving care through TRICARE, the health care program serving active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, retirees, and their families and survivors. It was just Peter Roskam’s way of saying thank you to the nation’s elders and soldiers for their hard work and sacrifices for their country, and thank you to the nation’s physicians as well for their efforts on behalf of their patients.
The vote was on H.R.3961 – Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. Congressional action was required on this bill to prevent physicians caring for seniors and military families from receiving a 21% pay cut in 2010. Such a drastic cut in physician reimbursement would force many physicians caring for seniors and for military families to stop accepting such patients or dratically cut back on the number of physicians. This would result in many patients losing access to their physician of choice and perhaps losing access to care altogether. Roskam himself described the access problem in a letter attacking similar impending cuts back in 2008:
“Despite the rising costs of living, Congress is unwisely poised to cut Medicare payments for physicians, severely limiting access to medical care for an ever growing senior population,” said Roskam. “If such cuts are enacted, Illinois will lose $510 million for the care of elderly and disabled patients over the next year, and $10 billion over eight years. It is my sincere hope the bipartisan support from many of my fellow colleagues will help restore this funding, insuring that Medicare patients can find physicians in their community with the financial ability to treat them.”
Medicare seniors look to their doctor as the key professional in charge of their care. Every aspect of our health care system from hospitals to rural health clinics relies upon the skills and services of physicians. A stable payment structure for physician services is critical. The impending cuts will only destabilize the Medicare program and jeopardize all patients’ access to care if not addressed in a thoughtful manner. It is critical that we work together in a bipartisan fashion to enact legislation early in this year to stop the Medicare cuts.
So Roskam’s support of pay cuts to doctors this time around is based in his obstructive partisanship rather than good policy and he is willing to let everyone suffer for it. DuPage County Seniors, families of servicemen, and physicians should take note of this vote and remember it next fall.
Fortunately, Peter Roskam did not get his way. H.R. 3961 passed by a vote of 243-183. Only a single Republican voted for the bill: Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas. We see once again that all the Republican protestations about supporting the troops are really just so much hot air.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on the passage of H.R. 3961:
“Strengthening Medicare for generations to come is essential to our efforts to reforming health care for all Americans. This legislation will permanently improve the way Medicare pays physicians and in doing so, guarantee that America’s seniors will continue to have access to excellent care through Medicare.
“This legislation is a top priority for seniors and was endorsed by the AARP and the American Medical Association because it protects seniors’ access to their doctor, promotes primary care, and offers incentives for doctors to provide patients with higher quality and more efficient care. Today’s vote by the House keeps our promise to strengthen Medicare, never weaken it.
“As this legislation heads to the Senate, the statutory ‘pay as you go’ budget bill will be added to ensure that we put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility and begin to bring down the deep deficits that face our nation.”
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