ICYMI: Burgess fights for American seniors and doctors

Floor Speech

Last night, Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) went to the House Floor to fight for American seniors and doctors as House Democrats worked to place a band-aid on Medicare reimbursement rates instead of a more permanent solution.

His full remarks here:

'I'm on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I'm on the Budget Committee. I'm on the Rules Committee. I'm also a co-chair of the House Republican Doctors Caucus. Last week, the Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, asked if he could come and talk to us. We made it a bipartisan meeting - including Democrats who are physicians as well in that meeting.

"Dr. Murthy was primarily concerned about physician burnout. He's encountered a lot of it since he's reassumed his role as the Surgeon General - the nation's top doctor. We shared with the Surgeon General one of the principal drivers [for physician burnout]. Yes, the pandemic has been a problem. Yes, cutting down elective surgeries early in the pandemic and clobbering the cashflow in [physician] offices was a problem. But one of the real drivers of physician burnout today is constant haggling and no solution for these cuts.

"A year ago, we were here on this floor talking about a 9.4 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement rates. Then at the last minute, good came out of the machine and saved the nation's doctors, but here we are again. The thing is, we knew it was coming, it wasn't a mystery. We could have had hearings, as Ranking Member Brady pointed out. We could have had hearings in our committees, but we chose not to. We chose to squander that time, and now the Surgeon General is concerned about the burnout in the nation's physician's corps. Here's the problem - they're burnt out because we won't answer their calls, we won't solve their problems, and we had an opportunity to solve it. I asked the Rules Committee for an amendment - 'lets divide the question, we don't have to do the debt limit and the doc fix at the same low.' Let's divide the question, and let members have the freedom to vote on this issue and vote their conscience. Let doctors all over this country know who stands with them and who is against them."

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