Fixing Medicare Reimbursement Rate

Floor Speech

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of the 600,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Connecticut and the thousands of physicians who care for them. We need to take up a bill in this Congress over the next several weeks to finally fix the flawed Medicare sustainable growth rate formula.

Since 2003, for almost a decade, physicians have been dealing with the uncertainty that comes with scheduled annual rate reductions. They're staring at a 28 percent reduction right now. That means about $28,000 per year per Connecticut physician.

If this were to happen, it would happen at the worst possible time. With all the baby boomers coming on to the Medicare rolls, there would be a lot of physicians who just couldn't take Medicare patients any longer. They'd likely have to lay off workers at a time when we already have 9 percent unemployment in Connecticut and across the Nation.

This is unacceptable and we have to do something about it. So over the next several weeks, let's fix this once and for all. Let's stand together as a Congress and put an end to this outdated system and provide some certainty and security for America's seniors and America's physicians.

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