NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

Dingell Introduces Bill to Halt
Medicare Physician Payment Cuts, Rising Premiums

Washington, D.C. – Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, introduced legislation today that would offer a temporary reprieve from cuts in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled for 2007 and 2008. This legislation, H.R. 5916, the “Patients’ Access to Physicians Act,” would also protect seniors and individuals with disabilities from increased Medicare Part B premiums.

“This bill will ensure that seniors continue to have the freedom to choose their own doctor and get the care they need,” said Congressman Dingell. “Failure to act would strangle Medicare by making it increasingly difficult for physicians to accept patients in the single most critical healthcare program for seniors.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that, under the current payment formula, Medicare payments to physicians will be cut by 4.6 percent in January and unless Congress acts to create a new formula, physicians will see a cumulative cut of approximately 37 percent through the year 2015. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended moving to a payment formula that provides annual updates to physician payments taking into account medical inflation. The American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American College of Cardiology support MedPAC’s framework for updating the Medicare physician payments. The Patients’ Access to Physicians Act mirrors this recommendation and would temporarily stop the cuts for two years, providing Congress the necessary time to remedy the payment formula.

With Medicare Part B premiums rising by more than 10 percent for three consecutive years, the bill would also protect beneficiaries from additional increases caused by higher payments to doctors. Medicare premiums already consume 9 percent of the average Social Security check. Further increases to Medicare premiums would shift more of the burden to seniors, many who live on fixed incomes.

“We need to find a solution to this formula before we cause irreparable harm to Medicare, and right now this Congress needs to stop the bleeding while it figures out how to fix it,” Dingell added.

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