Thursday, November 19, 2009
House Passes Reform Of Medicare Physician Payment System
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the House passed legislation that would permanently reform the broken Medicare physician payment system. The "Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act" (H.R. 3961) passed by a vote of 243-183. The bill repeals a 21 percent fee reduction scheduled for January 2010, and replaces the physician payment formula with a more stable system that ends the unrealistic cycle of threats of ever-larger fee cuts followed by short-term patches. The bill also includes statutory PAYGO legislation.
The reforms in H.R. 3961 will guarantee that beneficiaries continue to enjoy the excellent access to care that they do today. It will also follow the President’s lead by ending a budget gimmick that artificially reduces the deficit by assuming physician payments will be massively cut over the next several years, even though Congress has consistently intervened to prevent those cuts from occurring.
"Congress has an obligation to make sure seniors, people with disabilities and our men and women in uniform continue to have access to the care they need, and doctors are fairly compensated for their important work,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). “Today’s bill strengthens Medicare and helps in our overall effort to reform our health care system and improve the reliability and quality of care for millions of patients nationwide."
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