Date: 2014-03-14
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to speak in strong opposition to H.R. 4015. the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 because of the passage of the Rule to this bill. I am not alone in opposing this irresponsible measure. I am joined by AARP. Alliance for Retired Americans. American Academy of Family Physicians. American Geriatrics Society. American Osteopathic Association. Center for Medicare Advocacy. Inc.. Families USA. Medicare Rights Center. National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. and the National Council on Aging. I strongly support providing adequate compensation to our physicians who serve Medicare patients. Medicare patients in very state make up 10 percent or more of those who have health insurance. Medicare patients and the medical payments made to their physicians and medical service providers is critical to our nations health care economy. It is important for our seniors to know that Medicare will be there when they need it. But it is equally important that there are physicians who are willing to attend to them without going broke. That is why we have a Sustainable Growth Rate or "SGR." Medicare reimbursement enables rural physicians and hospitals to remain open for business. As with any business. medical clinics and physician offices have payrolls to meet. bills to pay. and expenses to meet as they become due. If revenues are not sufficient to cover costs. the business will not long survive. Thus. it is critical that we not disrupt timely and adequate payment to Medicare providers. but that is exactly what will happen at the end of this month if the SGR is not approved by the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Obama. The problem with H.R. 4015 is what happened when the Rule for this bill passed the House. The rule for H.R. 4015 added language that would delay the Affordable Care Acts implementation of the individual mandate. I oppose the bill for two reasons: It corrupts what was a strongly supported bipartisan bill to sustain physician reimbursement rates for medical services approved under Medicare. and It is another attempt by the Republicans to mislead the public regarding the Affordable Care Act. I know that many predicted that the Affordable Care Act would cause havoc on the nations health care system. But it is not the ACA that is causing havocit is the 50 desperate but futile attempts by the Tea Party to scuttle a law that has been passed by Congress. signed by the President. upheld by the Supreme Court. The most threatening actions to our nations healthcare system by Tea Party Republicans are their attacks on Medicare. In 2014. according to the Kaiser Foundation 16 percent of the nations people have medical insurance under Medicare: Texas has 12 percent of its residents insured under Medicare. Arkansas. Florida and Vermont have 19 percent of their residents insured under Medicare. West Virginia and Maine have 21 percent of their residents insured under Medicare. and Kentucky. Mississippi. Missouri. Ohio. Oklahoma. Oregon. South Dakota. Tennessee. Wisconsin. Ohio. Oklahoma. and Oregon have 18 percent of their residents insured under Medicare. Every state has more than 10 percent of their residents insured by Medicare. The uncertainly created by the majority regarding Medicare reimbursement over the last several years has forced physicians to reevaluate continuing their medical practice and frustrated hospitals working to make budget projections over several years into the futurethis is critical to business decision making. Because of uncertainty created by Medicare physician reimbursementphysicians and hospitals have been forced to close their offices. reduce services. or merge. When patients find they cannot keep their physician or that their options for health care are being affectedit is not because of the Affordable Care Act. Our nation has taken a momentous step in creating a mindset that good health is a personal responsibility with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. The health care law did not automatically enroll all citizens into the program. it was specifically designed to be an optin process. There are tens of thousands of visitors each day to the website and despite problems with the initial rollout of the online health insurance registration process. millions have enrolled and experience the peace of mind that comes from having affordable. high quality health insurance that is there when you need it. So it is puzzling that with less than 70 legislative days remaining in the Second Session of the 113th Congress. we are still seeing attempts to end the Affordable Care Act. It is very troubling that a bill critical to the provision of payments to physicians that treat Medicare patients is not safe from the partisan political games of the House of Republicans. The House should be considering legislation to address the most pressing needs of the American people. Today. we should be debating legislation to extend emergency unemployment insurance benefits. The House should be debating a jobs creation bill to put Americans who are seeking employment back to work. We know that for every person who gets a jobthree others are still searching for employment. This is another attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Instead of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans are now seeking ways to impede or frustrate its implementation. After shutting down the federal government last year in an attempt to end the Affordable Care Act. they have resorted to their latest gimmick of attaching to a critically needed piece of legislation to make sure our nations seniors continue to have access to physicians and hospitals an attempt to harm Obamacare. I ask my colleagues to support Medicare patients and their physicians by rejecting the bill.