[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 165 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MEDICARE AND MEDICAID EXTENDERS ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RUSH HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 9, 2010

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4994, the Medicare 
and Medicaid Extenders Act, which would provide a one year extension 
for Medicare reimbursement rates for physician services.
  The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 established a new way to determine 
Medicare physician payments: the Sustainable Growth Rate, SGR, formula. 
Since 2002, this formula has called for an automatic decrease in 
Medicare physician payments each year, potentially limiting physician 
access for Medicare patients. The formula goes beyond Medicare and also 
affects TRICARE, the insurance plan for active and retired military 
personnel and their families, and its reimbursements for civilian 
physicians.
  According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, there is a 
broad consensus that this physician payment formula is flawed. These 
parts of the Balanced Budget Act should not have been passed in the 
first place and should be repealed and rewritten anew. The health 
reform legislation passed by the House of Representatives last year, 
which I supported, included a provision that would have repealed and 
replaced the SGR formula with a new Medicare physician payment plan. 
Unfortunately, the final health reform bill that was signed into law 
did not include this provision, which would have been a permanent 
solution to the SGR formula.
  Unless Congress acts, this formula would lead to a 25 percent cut in 
doctor's payments in 2011, discouraging many doctors from continuing to 
accept Medicare patients.
  The Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act would freeze the current 
rates for physician services through December 31, 2011, giving Congress 
time to work on a permanent solution. Further, this piece of 
legislation would extend the 5 percent increase in Medicare payments 
for mental health providers that is set to expire at the end of 2010. 
This provision would expand access to mental health care for millions 
of Medicare patients.
  Additionally, this bill would extend funding for the special diabetes 
program through 2013. Without this bill, the special diabetes program, 
which funds 35 percent of all Federal research on Type I diabetes and 
supports research and prevention diabetes programs for Native Americans 
and Alaska Natives would expire at the end of 2011.
  This bill is completely paid for by making small changes to the 
health reform law.
  I am frustrated by these continuing short-term extensions. This is 
unfair to physicians who must plan their office budgets and unfair to 
patients who face unnecessary anxiety about the availability of the 
doctors on whom they depend. I will continue to advocate for 
legislation that eliminates the broken SGR formula and replaces it with 
a system that fairly compensates physicians for treating Medicare 
patients. Until we have a new system, we must pass this one-year fix to 
ensure that American seniors and military families have the access to 
their physicians.

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