[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 168 (Thursday, December 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                H.R. 1845, THE MEDICARE IVIG ACCESS ACT

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                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 27, 2012

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam Speaker, I support this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 
1845, but I must express concern about once again violating regular 
order in bringing this bill to the floor today. Neither the IVIG Access 
Act nor the Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers (SMART) Act 
went through the committee process, thus depriving Members of the 
opportunity to discuss these policies in an open forum.
  One consequence of this lack of dialogue is that this bill does not 
provide any funding to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
to implement the new Medicare Secondary Payer rules, something that 
could have been corrected in committee were Members able to do so. This 
is yet another example of placing additional burden on an already 
woefully underfunded administrative agency.

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