[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 112 (Wednesday, September 20, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H7900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    BALANCED BUDGET REFINEMENT BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the Balanced 
Budget Act of 1997, or BBA, and the efforts in this body to provide 
some relief through another Balanced Budget Refinement Bill.
  I voted against the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 because it was 
designed to cut $116 billion from Medicare. I believed these cuts were 
too drastic and would severely harm our health care delivery system. 
Unfortunately, I was right. Three years later, the Congressional Budget 
Office has projected that Medicare will be cut by more than $250 
billion, more than double what was originally expected.
  Our hospitals, medical device companies, nursing homes, health 
centers, and home health agencies all need relief from these drastic 
cuts. That is why I am here today advocating for a comprehensive and 
significant BBA relief package.
  A BBA package will help the teaching hospitals throughout the 
country, like the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, located 
in my district. A BBA package will help HMOs stay in Medicare+Choice. 
We know that HMOs are pulling out of Medicare+Choice because they 
cannot afford to treat Medicare patients with the reimbursement levels 
currently set in the BBA.
  While I support BBA relief for teaching hospitals and nursing homes, 
as well as efforts to keep HMOs participating in Medicare+Choice, I 
want to focus on three areas that are not receiving the attention they 
deserve in discussions on the Balanced Budget Act refinement package. 
Specifically, I want to talk about medical devices, health centers and 
rural clinics, and last, but not least, home health care.
  First, I want to express my support for H.R. 4395, the Medicare 
Patient Access to Technology Act. This bill will help speed the 
delivery of new medical technologies to Medicare beneficiaries and 
health care providers.
  Mr. Speaker, medical devices and other technologies must undergo a 
rigorous review at the Food and Drug Administration before that medical 
technology is made available. This process is followed by a review of 
the Health Care Financing Administration, or HCFA, before it is finally 
approved for reimbursement under the Medicare program. However, HCFA 
can take up to 4 years to approve coverage, assign the product a code, 
and establish a payment level. This lengthy process denies our seniors 
access to devices, therapies and products that effectively treat 
disease, improve the quality of life and, indeed, save lives.
  H.R. 4395 provides reforms to make these technologies available 
safely and quickly so that Medicare recipients will have the access and 
the latest medical technologies, and I urge their inclusion in any BBA 
relief package.
  Second, I want to express my strong support for H.R. 2341, the Safety 
Net Preservation Act. This bill ensures that community health centers 
and rural health clinics can continue to provide health care services 
to uninsured Americans who have nowhere else to turn for the care they 
need.
  There are more than 44 million people in this country who do not have 
health insurance and millions more are underinsured. Community health 
centers and rural health clinics are the safety net for these people; 
yet these centers cannot survive if they are forced to operate under 
fiscal deficits.
  H.R. 2341 allows organizations like the Great Brook Valley Health 
Center and the Family Health Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, to 
continue doing the good work they are doing today.
  Finally, I want to express my strong support for home health care and 
for H.R. 5163, the Home Health Care Refinement Amendments of 2000. I 
introduced this bill, along with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Peterson) and others because the home health industry has been 
decimated by the Balanced Budget Act. Instead of being cut by $15 
billion, as was intended in 1997, home health care has been cut by $69 
billion over 5 years. And next year home health care spending will be 
cut by another 15 percent. This has to stop.
  My bill will eliminate this unnecessary and dangerous cut, as well as 
provide relief for the most costly patients and for rural providers. My 
bill also changes the billing procedure for nonroutine medical supplies 
and opens the door for telemedicine.
  Last week, I sat down with the chief White House health care policy 
advisor. We agreed that home health care deserves relief and that it is 
a priority in the upcoming BBA relief bill. I trust he will fight for 
home health care, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this legislation as the comprehensive home health care BBA relief 
package.
  Mr. Speaker, providing Medicare relief from the BBA is vital. The 
proposals currently advocated by the majority and the administration 
are inadequate. We must provide at the very least $40 billion over 5 
years to address the needs of medical devices, community health centers 
and home health care, as well as many other more well-known areas, like 
teaching hospitals, Medicare+Choice, and nursing homes.
  I urge everyone to work to provide a comprehensive and significant 
relief that is absolutely necessary this year. We cannot adjourn from 
this Congress without addressing the issue of the Balanced Budget Act 
cuts in Medicare. We can do much better. Our constituents are counting 
on us. I hope that we are all up to the challenge.




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