[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21538]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PHYSICIAN REIMBURSEMENT

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about 
an issue that would greatly impact this country's physicians and our 
constituents ability to access care. The issue of physician 
reimbursements under Medicare is important to me and my Colorado 
constituents. Congress was able to take steps to address the 
reimbursement issue for 2006, but once again physicians are faced with 
the possibility of a decreased reimbursement for 2007. Many physicians 
and physician groups have contacted Congress, requesting that the 
problem be addressed.
  Ellice Zirinski, who works in Family Practice in Arvada, CO, wanted 
Congress to know that she would strongly urge them to take action and 
increase Medicare reimbursement to physicians. Should reimbursement 
decline as legislated, she could no longer afford to give care to her 
patients and stay in practice. She does not want to jeopardize her 
patients' access to care. We need to find a way to provide physicians 
with a positive reimbursement before January 2007. For some time, 
physicians in Colorado have been concerned with the possibility of a 
reduction in their reimbursement schedule.
  I am greatly concerned with the fact that hospitals, nursing homes, 
and other Medicare providers continue to receive positive updates, 
while private physicians are forced to no longer accept Medicare 
patients, or, even worse, forced out of practice. Tom Mino, a Doctor of 
Osteopathy in Broomfield, CO, told me, ``I may have to consider a 
change in occupation--or at least move away from solo practice.'' This 
trend could result in more physicians practicing in an institutional 
setting instead of private practice. This concerns me greatly.
  I have heard time and time again that Colorado's rural physicians 
will have no other choice than to stop accepting Medicare patients. 
Mark Laitos, an M.D. in Longmont, CO, said, ``I live in a small town. 
My patients are my friends and my friends are my patients. We go to 
church together. I won't abandon them, but my biggest worry is that my 
practice will be overrun with new Medicare patients as more and more of 
my colleagues make the decision to stop seeing Medicare patients.'' 
That means that my rural constituents will no longer have access to 
care.
  The final conference agreement on the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, 
S. 1932, approved February 1, 2006, overrode the mandatory 4.4 percent 
decrease for 2006 by freezing payments at the 2005 levels. A freeze in 
the physician reimbursement rate for 2007 is not enough. We need to 
take steps to ensure that physicians receive a positive reimbursement 
update.
  The issue of physician reimbursement affects the entire United States 
and all of our constituents. Because of this, I urge my colleagues to 
take the necessary action to ensure that physicians receive a positive 
Medicare reimbursement update for 2007.

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