Congressman Derek Kilmer

Representing the 6th District of Washington
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Working to Promote Affordable, Accessible Health Care

Our health care system in the State of Washington serves a diverse population with unique needs. Over the past year, Representative Kilmer has visited every hospital in the Congressional district and met with countless providers, constituents and advocates both in Washington State and Washington D.C. to understand the needs of our region.

  • Representative Kilmer wasn’t in Congress when the Affordable Care Act was passed.  In his view, Congress should fix some of the problems with the ACA that we know exist and make sure it’s implemented in a way that is fair to families and employers.  That’s something Congress should take up in a bipartisan manner rather than playing partisan games.  He thinks there are several valuable elements of the new law.  For example, it’s a good thing that the law lowers health care costs for seniors by closing the prescription drug donut hole, provides important protections for folks with preexisting conditions, enables young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance until their 26th birthday and provides coverage of life-saving preventive care like mammograms, cancer screenings, and immunizations.  At the same time, Representative Kilmer believes Congress has real work to do to improve our health care system for doctors, hospitals, employers, and patients.  He has proposed legislation to help small businesses better afford insurance.
     
  • While intended as a cost-controlling measure to promote sustainable reimbursement levels to Medicare and TRICARE providers, there is a real and very legitimate concern that allowing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula to go into effect would result in much deeper cuts in reimbursements to providers than Congress anticipated. These steep cuts limit patient access to care, and Congress has repeatedly acted on short-term measures to prevent significant disruption for providers and patients alike. Representative Kilmer strongly supports financially responsible legislation that would permanently fix the SGR.
     
  • The shortage of physicians and lack of graduate medical education positions available for medical school students are significant concerns for our region. As our population continues to grow, stakeholders, including universities have expressed concerns regarding the adequacy of available funding for graduate medical positions. Representative Kilmer is a co-sponsor of H.R. 1180, the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2013 and H.R. 1201, the Training Tomorrow's Doctors Today Act, because Congress should not only provide funding for more graduate medical school residency positions, but also look for ways to encourage those students to stay and serve the high-need regions of our country.
     
  • Representative Kilmer also believes supporting our providers that serve underserved populations is greatly important to both the physical health of our local citizens and economic health of our region. That is why Representative Kilmer co-sponsored H.R. 1920, the Disproportionate Share Hospital Allotment Reduction Relief Act of 2013, which would delay new cuts to Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals that serve Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries, as well as patients who are uninsured or under-insured. Representative Kilmer has called on the Administration to carefully consider the needs of rural populations when determining payments of specific service providers, such as dialysis care facilities, community health centers, and rural hospitals.

Medicare costs should not be carried on the backs of the most vulnerable in our population.  Representative Kilmer has worked closely with his colleagues to ensure our seniors get the benefits that they deserve. Representative Kilmer cosponsored H.R.3531, the Creating Access to Rehabilitation for Every Senior (CARES) Act of 2013 and H.R. 1179, the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013, to help elderly patients that qualify for long-term Medicare facilities to be admitted as quickly as possible rather than staying at the hospital.