* Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3962, which will protect patient access to their doctors and prevent a 21 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors, and also boost physician payments by 2.2 percent through November 30.

* Congress has spent the last decade--under both Republican and Democratic leadership--overriding the Sustainable Growth Rate, SGR, formula to prevent America's doctors from facing pay cuts in Medicare and to ensure seniors can keep their doctor.

* Last November, the House passed H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, permanently fixing the SGR. Democrats have long recognized that this formula is fundamentally flawed and have been working to fix it only to be stymied by Republicans in the Senate. This bill, though necessary, will require Congress to review the formula again in December when the current fix expires.

* Temporary fixes are not the answer. We must have a permanent solution to this problem to protect our Medicare patients and retired military veterans.

* I urge my colleagues to work toward a permanent fix of the Sustainable Growth Rate.