[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 178 (Thursday, December 3, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2892]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAYMENT REFORM ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 19, 2009

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Medicare 
Physician Payment Reform Act, H.R. 3961, legislation that would ensure 
that physicians are reimbursed fairly for treating Medicare patients. 
Improving this payment system is vital to improving our nation's health 
insurance system.
  There is broad consensus that the current Medicare formula for 
reimbursing physicians, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), is 
fundamentally flawed. This formula would be eliminated by this bill and 
replaced with a better structure for Medicare physician payments. 
Without this necessary action, doctors' payments would be cut 21 
percent in 2010, forcing many doctors to stop accepting Medicare 
patients and undermining the ability of millions of Medicare 
beneficiaries to get the care they need to stay healthy. I am pleased 
that this new formula would compensate physicians fairly for their 
services to seniors.
  As a U.S. Representative and the spouse of a physician, I have heard 
from many physicians, nurses, and other health care providers 
frustrated with the annual ritual of preventing major Medicare 
physician payment cuts. I am pleased that this legislation, a crucial 
part of health care reform, would stop this cycle and reset the 
Medicare physician payment baseline to ensure seniors continue to have 
access to their doctors. In addition, this bill recognizes the 
importance of primary care, a key component of health reform, and would 
provide seniors with greater access to primary care practitioners. This 
would help seniors with greater coordination of their medical care and 
promote medical care that keeps seniors healthy.
  In addition to stopping the Medicare physician payment cuts, the 
legislation also would implement the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act. This 
Act would require all new spending to be paid for and not increase the 
debt by instituting pay-as-you-go budgeting as law. I support pay-as-
you-go rules because fiscal discipline must always be a hallmark of our 
government. In the 1990s with pay-as-you-go as the law, we turned the 
massive deficits of the 1980s into a record surplus under President 
Clinton. Pay-as-you-go is only one tool, but it is a strong one to 
return our nation back to fiscal stability.
  I voted in favor of this bill to help physicians and health care 
providers continue to provide excellent service to our nation's 
seniors.

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