[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H1867]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CANCER PATIENT PROTECTION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss H.R. 1416, the 
Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2013.
  On April 1, 2013, the Obama administration reduced Medicare payments 
to the costs of cancer-fighting drugs. This is having a devastating 
impact on seniors fighting cancer and the Nation's cancer care delivery 
system, which is already in crisis.
  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, said that it does 
not have the authority to stop these devastating cuts to lifesaving 
chemotherapy drugs. That's why yesterday I introduced the Cancer 
Patient Protection Act of 2013, H.R. 1416, to ensure seniors, 
especially those on lower or fixed incomes, get the treatment they 
need.
  The cuts the Obama administration is choosing to implement will 
jeopardize patient access to cancer care and result in higher overall 
costs for both seniors and the Medicare program by forcing patients 
into costlier hospital treatment settings.
  The United States enjoys the most respected and most successful 
cancer care delivery system in the world. More than 60 percent of U.S. 
cancer patients rely on Medicare; and, until recently, over 80 percent 
of the Nation's cancer patients were treated by physicians in the 
community setting.
  According to recent studies by Milliman and Avalere, community 
oncology clinics provide the most cost-effective model for delivering 
high-quality cancer services to elderly Americans. Despite this, a 
series of changes to Medicare reimbursements over the past decade have 
imperiled these vital innovations. The administration has decided to 
apply the sequester cut both to payments for part B drugs and to the 6 
percent services payment.
  A recent survey done by the Community Oncology Alliance shows the CMS 
cuts will force 72 percent of community cancer centers to stop seeing 
new Medicare patients, or not see Medicare patients without secondary 
insurance, and/or send Medicare patients elsewhere for treatment, such 
as costly hospitals, where treatment costs more.
  When community cancer centers are forced to close their doors or 
limit services, access to cancer care is compromised for all cancer 
patients, especially the vulnerable population of seniors who rely on 
Medicare and those on fixed incomes and lower income individuals whose 
options are already limited.
  Fortunately, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has the 
authority to protect against further destabilization of the community 
cancer care safety net.
  The Office of Management and Budget, OMB, directed all Federal 
agencies to ``use any available flexibility to reduce operational risks 
and minimize impacts on the agency's core mission in service of the 
American people'' and to ``identify and address operational challenges 
that could potentially have a significant deleterious effect on the 
agency's mission or otherwise raise life, safety, or health concerns.''
  Further, the Social Security Act compels the Secretary to adhere to 
the Average Sales Price-based formula that Congress established under 
the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. The Social Security Act 
expressly mandates that the Secretary reimburse physicians at 106 
percent of ASP for office-administered drugs, providing detailed 
directions to the Secretary on how to calculate the average sales 
price.
  Congress has distinguished the Medicare drug payment methodology, and 
these provisions warrant deference under sequestration and guidance 
from the OMB.
  By passing this bill, we are ensuring that everything can be done to 
prevent these cuts from going into effect. I encourage my colleagues to 
support this important piece of legislation.

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