Kinzinger Votes to Protect Senior Citizens' Access to Medical Care

Statement

Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement following passage of H.R. 2, the bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which passed the House by a vote of 392-37:

"Today, a strong, bipartisan majority of the House came together and passed a permanent fix to a long-standing problem that threatened access to medical care for senior citizens," said Congressman Kinzinger. "The first real entitlement reform in nearly two decades, this legislation repeals once and for all the fatally flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula for reimbursing Medicare health care providers, and implements structural reforms that will strengthen Medicare and put the program on a more sound financial footing. This historic legislation is a positive step forward for a Congress that for too long has been focused on partisan gimmicks."

H.R. 2 will permanently repeal the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate, establish a fair and stable payment system for Medicare, protect seniors' access to their doctors, begin to strengthen Medicare over the long term, and extend the Children's Health Insurance Program.

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