Davis Works to Extend Healthcare for Nation's Children, Seniors

Press Release

As the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to follow through on its commitment to continue providing healthcare to our children, front groups for the nation's private insurance industry have launched an assault on committee members who are working to ensure that the future healthcare needs of our children and our seniors are met.

U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Ala.), a member of the Ways and Means Committee, offered the following statement today as the committee prepares to vote this week on adjustments to the nation's Medicare program that will in effect save the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is scheduled to expire this year, as well as extend services in the standard Medicare program.

"I am appalled that the insurance industry that has worked so aggressively to protect the healthcare status quo is choosing to mislead seniors in the state of Alabama. As the industry knows very well, the House of Representatives is on the verge of sustaining the Children's Health Insurance Program that serves thousands of Alabama children. In addition, Congress will eliminate scheduled cuts to doctors who treat Medicare patients. To help pay for this comprehensive package, Congress is prepared to take away some of the subsidies that have gone to the insurance industry over the last decade.

"The reduction in the Medicare Advantage program will in no way disturb the underlying Medicare program itself. The only losers will be an industry that will have to forfeit some of the windfall profits it has enjoyed under the Bush Administration."

Currently, some insurance companies offer private plans known as Medicare Advantage that receive a payment that is 12 percent more generous than standard Medicare reimbursements. At the same time, physician reimbursements beginning in October 2007 are scheduled to be reduced by 10 percent and by an estimated five percent each year between 2009 and 2017 without Congressional action.

This reduction in windfall payments to private insurance companies will allow more resources for physicians to participate in the primary Medicare program while also providing additional resources to extend SCHIP and other federal healthcare programs. Groups, including the AARP, the American Medical Association, and the AFL-CIO strongly support these changes by Congress.

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