Mikulski Fights to Keep Doctors' Doors Open to America's Seniors and Veterans

October 22, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), a senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke on the Senate floor today in support of the Medicare Physicians Fairness Act (S. 1176). The bill prevents a 21 percent cut in payments to doctors caring for seniors and veterans who rely on Medicare and improves access to care for low-income seniors.

 

“I believe ‘honor thy mother and father’ is not just a good commandment to live by, it is good public policy to govern by. That’s why I feel so strongly about Medicare,” Senator Mikulski said. “This bill prevents a health care train wreck for the 44 million seniors who depend on Medicare. It protects our nation’s seniors and veterans and the doctors who care for them.”

 

A video of Senator Mikulski's floor statement will be available at: http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/VideoGallery/index.cfm

 

Senator Mikulski’s floor statement in support of the Medicare Physicians Fairness Act follows:

 

“Mr. President, I stand today to speak in support of the Medicare Physician Fairness Act. We must treat our doctors fairly for all that they do and the sacrifices they make. If we do not pass this bill, our doctors will face a 21.5 percent payment reduction, forcing them to close doors to seniors and veterans, denying them access to care they deserve. We cannot let this happen.

 

“We ask so much of our doctors. We ask them to be skilled, smart, empathetic and available 24/7. We ask them to save, maintain and improve our lives. We ask them to have the understanding of a Nobel Prize winner and the patience and compassion of Mother Teresa.

 

“Our doctors assume responsibility for life, the risk and accountability for making the right diagnosis, and prescribing the right treatment. They look out for our aging population who have multiple problems where treatments can sometimes contradict each other. I often hear my Medicare constituents say, ‘I don’t know what I would do without my doctor.’

 

“Our doctors are always there for us. But are we there for our doctors?

 

“Look at what they face. Doctors are first responders. Apart from death, disease and trauma, our doctors also have to face the health care bureaucracy. They face the hassle factors of mountains of administrative forms, pre-approvals and reimbursements. We must focus on value care, not volume care.

 

“Patients are grateful for all doctors do. Medicare reimbursement is not. For all doctors’ work and training, for what doctors have to do, and have to do right, they are not rewarded. Doctors take the Hippocratic oath of ‘Do no harm.’ Well, I feel that way about doctors, and the whole health team of nurses, social workers, pharmacists, integrative health professions. We should do them no harm. We must pay them fairly. For health professionals, their career is their calling.

 

“In July, I took a fall. I broke my ankle in three places. I fell as I was leaving church. In shock, I called my primary care doctor. I was able to reach him. I was taken to a downtown, urban hospital in Baltimore like those you see on TV, except this was no miniseries. This was real life.

 

“At the hospital, the doctors spent a lot of time talking to me and all the other patients who were there. I spent a lot of time talking to the doctors and all of the health professionals who treated me. I saw an ER doctor, a radiologist, an anesthesiologist, and an orthopedic surgeon who left his family at a cookout just to come see me.

 

“Then there was my primary care doctor. He had to monitor and manage my situation. Every single one of those people who cared for me graduated college and medical school, went through residency, some, even a fellowship. Most have ongoing and continuing medical education requirements. Most are still paying back a pile of student debt.

 

“So I have seen the healthcare system, and the providers who work in it, from the wheelchair up. “Today, all I am asking is that we recognize doctors for what we ask of them. That we acknowledge them for the knowledge they need to have, the risk they undertake, the high cost of education and their outstanding student loans. They spend up to 12 years in training after college. They’re on call 24/7. Then they’re rushed away from the families they want to spend time with to provide each of us with the care we expect.

 

“I ask that we recognize these sacrifices by compensating our doctors justly and fairly, and not treating them like a commodity. This is also how we should treat the entire team of health professionals: nurses, social workers, integrative health practitioners, physical therapists and mental health professionals.

 

“If we don’t pass the Medicare Physician Fairness Act, our doctors will no longer be able to afford to take Medicare patients. And it’s not because they don’t want to. We can’t afford not to fix this for the more than 644,000 Medicare patients in Maryland, and the more 30,000 doctors in Maryland who could each stand to lose $18,000 next year.

 

“For the thousands of other doctors and patient across the country, failing to pass this bill is not an option. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.”