“We Must Stop Politicizing the Medicare Payment System”

(Washington) – Congressman John B. Larson released the following statement today on H.R. 4302, the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act.” The twelve month patch to the Medicare payment system is opposed by a large number of physician groups across the nation:

“I stand firm with our doctors and Medicare beneficiaries – we must stop politicizing the Medicare payment system.

“Coming together to fix the broken Medicare physician formula is long overdue. Members on both sides of the aisle, and both sides of the Capitol, already developed a permanent, bipartisan policy fix that provides certainty to our healthcare community, and there is a verifiable, valid way to pay for this by utilizing savings associated with the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan. Rather than continue a bipartisan process to find agreement on an offset, this bill is a signal to physicians and Medicare beneficiaries that Congress will not address a permanent solution until at least next year. That’s why I opposed this piecemeal approach that will do nothing to help our seniors and only exacerbates the problem.”

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