Physician Payment Fix Ensures Access to Affordable Health Care for Most Vulnerable Americans

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) voted to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors by fixing the way Medicare pays physicians.  H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, permanently reforms the Medicare payment system, repealing a 21% cut in payments to doctors scheduled to take place in January and replacing it with a stable system that protects seniors, preserves their relationship with their doctors and promotes primary care.  The bill passed the House with a 243 to 183 vote.

“I am proud to support this responsible bill, which lowers costs and improves care for America’s senior citizens,” said Rep. Baca.  “Medicare is a lifeline for our seniors in the Inland Empire and across the nation.  This bill strengthens our system and protects the ability of the over 194,000 Medicare recipients in my District to have reliable access to their doctors.”

This bill tackles seniors’ main concern – preventing pay cuts that could encourage doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients. It builds on the historic health insurance reform bill the House passed earlier this month, which will lower premiums, extend the solvency of Medicare by five years, improve preventive and primary care for seniors, and close the “donut hole” drug coverage gap.

The legislation also includes statutory “pay-as-you-go,” or PAYGO, language.  PAYGO language ensures that the government must not spend money it does not have, offsetting any new spending with cuts to existing programs or new revenue raisers.  By joining statutory PAYGO with legislation fixing Medicare physician payments, Democrats are putting an end to the reckless “borrow-and-spend” policies of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress and reinstating the principle that led us from record deficits to record surpluses in the Clinton Administration.

“President Obama and this Congress made a commitment to honest budgeting,” said Rep. Baca.   “By permanently fixing the way doctors are paid we are putting a stop to budget gimmicks and committing ourselves to fiscally responsible policies that reduce our nation’s deficit.”