Barton Seeks Medicare Physician Payments Fix
This YearOpening Statement of Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House
Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement today as part of a
hearing entitled, “Medicare Physician Payments: 2007 and Beyond”:
“Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairman Deal, for holding this important
hearing. I want to welcome all of our witnesses here today. This is an important
hearing and I think we’re going to have an action item hopefully result from
this hearing.
“In July, this subcommittee held a number of hearings to examine how we
currently pay physicians, what we need to think about when we talk about how to
pay physicians, and how to protect the taxpayer dollar from falling prey to the
use of unnecessary services. We heard about rapid growth in physician spending
for imaging services. We heard the many concerns regarding Medicare’s payment
for those services. We heard about the flaws in the current physician payment
system that may contribute to overuse of physician services. We heard about the
promise of a system that more fairly pays physicians for the services they
provide – those that reflect the best quality and efficient care that a
physician can provide for any particular patient.
“I have said this before publicly and I’ll say it again at this hearing:
Our current payment system for physician reimbursement is broken. It doesn’t
work. We can’t fix it. We can’t put another Band-Aid on it like we’ve been
doing. We keep coming back every year to try to provide a one-year override and,
because of the way the current system is structured, every year that we do that,
we just dig the hole deeper for next year. We’re spending billions and
billions of dollars each year and we’re getting further and further behind. It’s
time, in my opinion, for real reform and real change.
“I want to thank each of you today for coming here to discuss how we can do
that. How can we roll up our sleeves in the next few weeks and come together to
provide multi-year payment stabilization plan with some bonuses to those that
will work with us to contain growth in spending and advance quality and
efficient health care?
“I’m prepared to repeal the SGR system. I’m prepared to put on the
table a multi-year approach that holds physicians harmless, at a minimum, and
provides some incentives for some additional payments based on what physicians
themselves voluntarily do to advance quality and efficient health care.
“We have a concept and but this committee and our staffs are willing to
work with the witnesses and the trade groups that are represented before us
today to find a solution over the next month, month and a half, before we come
back for the lame duck after the elections.
“We want to build a better system. One that provides the correct incentives
for proper care instead of the wrong ones, and one that recognizes there are
savings accrued when chronic care is managed effectively. I want to assure
everyone in this room that I am 100 percent committed to enacting legislation
this year.
“Again, I am more than willing to support totally scrapping the SGR system
and holding doctors harmless for that deficit. I think it’s kind of funny
money, anyway. It’s an accounting mechanism. I think we can wipe if off the
books and start from scratch.
“But if we’re going to do it, we’re going to have to do it working in a
complementary, collective way. Again, my principles are, let’s start with a
clean sheet of paper. Let’s take a multi-year approach. Let’s provide some
incentives for better quality care and more efficient use, and then we’ll go
from there.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing today and to all the
witnesses.”
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