[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 7, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H5105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MEDICARE PART B PROPOSED PLAN FOR DRUG REIMBURSEMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Carter) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of seniors 
in the First Congressional District of Georgia. Many seniors in the 
First Congressional District of Georgia and across the Nation battle 
medically complex diagnoses, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, 
severe immune deficiency, epilepsy, and macular degeneration. These 
Medicare patients face significant complexities in their care and 
treatment options.
  This spring, I joined over 240 of my colleagues in sending a letter 
to CMS that expressed our deep concerns with a sweeping, nationwide 
experiment that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation has 
proposed.
  Patients and physicians in my district told me with no uncertainty 
that the CMMI experiment with part B drug payment will have negative 
consequences for millions of Medicare patients who depend on access to 
lifesaving treatments to live better lives. Under the part B drug 
experiment, in many cases, Medicare payment for certain drugs would be 
significantly below a physician's acquisition cost for the drug. This 
will put patients at tremendous risk, potentially forcing them to 
abandon treatments for other treatments that have shown less success. 
Ultimately, CMS will manipulate choice of treatment for Medicare 
patients using heavy-handed reimbursement techniques that undermine any 
efforts by medical professionals who have dedicated their lives to 
treating complex conditions like cancer.
  To make matters worse, CMS sought little to no stakeholder input, and 
has provided little turnaround time before medication treatment will be 
based on cost, rather than what is best for the patient.
  As a lifelong pharmacist, I trust clinically trained medical 
professionals to determine the best treatment for patients, not an 
unaccountable bureaucrat. Adding to the outlandish nature of this part 
B drug pilot project, there is nearly no escaping it. CMMI proposes to 
force nearly 75 percent of the country to participate in this Medicare 
drug experiment. 75 percent of the country is not a pilot project. It 
is near full implementation of a new program.
  Just last week, CMS responded to the letter we sent them and simply 
thanked us for sharing our opinion. Such a brief and dismissive 
response is indifferent to the risk posed to our Nation's sickest 
patients and to this congressional body.
  For all these reasons, I applaud my colleague from Indiana, Dr. Larry 
Bucshon, for sponsoring H.R. 5122 to prohibit CMS from moving forward 
with this dangerous, misguided experiment with seniors' lives. I 
proudly join him in his effort as a cosponsor of H.R. 5122 and 
encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

                          ____________________