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Klobuchar Attends Bipartisan White House Summit on Fiscal Responsibility

Says reducing deficit an essential part of long-term economic prosperity

February 23, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar attended the White House Summit on Fiscal Responsibility today and participated in discussions about how we can reduce the deficit.  The discussions focused on ensuring the long-term viability of the U.S. economy by reducing the deficit and examining the long-term fiscal health of Medicare and Medicaid.  Klobuchar has been a leader in the effort to reform Medicare by advocating for solutions that pay health care providers according to the actual quality of care they deliver, rather than the volume of procedures they perform.  Incorporating many of these cost-efficient effective measures could potentially save Medicare tens of billions of dollars.

“We can’t continue with business as usual,” said Klobuchar.  “Today’s summit is the first step to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.  We need to cut the deficit and I look forward to working with President Obama to reduce costs, cut bureaucracy and hold Washington accountable for its spending.   We have a new opportunity today to move forward with meaningful reforms that will help reduce our deficit and improve our long-term economic health.”

Klobuchar was joined at the White House by business leaders, independent experts, advocacy groups, and other members of Congress to discuss how to address the trillion-dollar deficit inherited from the Bush Administration.

Much of the conversation centered on how to bring down the rising costs of health care.  At $2.3 trillion per year, health care spending currently accounts for about 16 percent of the American economy.  If it continues to rise at the current rate, health care spending will account for about 22 percent of America’s economic activity by 2020.

Klobuchar said Medicare still pays providers based on quantity of services, not quality or outcomes.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, nearly $700 billion per year in health care services do not improve health outcomes.  That represents nearly one-third of all health care spending.

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