[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     ASSESSING NEW HEALTH CARE LAW

  (Mr. ROONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROONEY. Madam Speaker, last week the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services' Office of the Actuary released a memo estimating the 
financial effects of the new health care law. Not surprisingly, they 
found that costs will increase and access to care will be threatened as 
this legislation is implemented over the next 10 years.
  According to the independent report, ``Providers for whom Medicare 
constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it 
difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, 
might end their participation in the program--possibly jeopardizing 
access to care for beneficiaries.'' Put simply, the new law will force 
many doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients, leaving seniors in my 
district out in the cold.
  Additionally, the report claims that ``total national health 
expenditures in the United States during 2010 to 2019 would increase by 
about 0.9 percent. The additional demand for health services could lead 
to price increases, cost-shifting, and/or changes in providers' 
willingness to treat patients with low-reimbursement health coverage.''
  The new health care law will drive up costs and make it more 
difficult for many Americans, especially seniors, to get the care they 
need.

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