Statement on Medicare Reimbursement Cuts
U.S. Representative Donald Manzullo
September 21, 2006
Doctors are fed up with having to plead with Congress every year not to slash their reimbursement rates. Doctors are facing a 2007 payment reduction of 5.1% and are haunted by a cumulative 37% reduction between now and 2015. Congress must act immediately to solve both the short-term and long-term problems.
First, Congress must pass legislation to mitigate the reimbursement cuts scheduled for January 1, 2007. On September 11, 2006, I signed a letter (along with over 260 of my colleagues) to Speaker Hastert and Minority Leader Pelosi demanding that Congress address the Medicare reimbursement cuts before Congress adjourns in October. I have been supportive of Rep. Nancy Johnson’s efforts to eliminate the 5.1% cut for 2007 and replace it with a 1% increase and an additional 1.5% increase available for voluntary submission of quality of care data. If an agreement cannot be reached before the October recess, Congress must make this one of its first priorities when it returns after the election.
Second, Congress must address the long-term problem of Medicare reimbursing doctors utilizing a mechanism that does not properly account for a doctor’s costs. I have consistently supported payment increases and the delay or elimination of payment cuts for doctors serving Medicare beneficiaries. Our seniors will not have the best physicians available to them if we continue to demoralize doctors with regulatory burdens and looming pay cuts. Doctors just want to utilize their gift of healing and not personally subsidize Medicare for the privilege of participating in the program. The sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula reimburses doctors in the current year based upon the previous year’s performance. The SGR needs to be repealed and replaced with a formula that reimburses doctors fairly. That is why I agreed to cosponsor H.R. 2356, introduced by Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL), which would have repealed and replaced the SGR. I will continue to support legislation that aims to fairly compensate doctors for their services.
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