S. 1776 would have preserved access by replacing flawed payment system
Today the U.S. Senate blocked critical legislation to protect access to doctors for the 44 million Americans who rely on Medicare.
The Medicare Physician Fairness Act (S. 1776) would have replaced today’s broken doctor payment system, which calls for a 21.5 percent cut in physician pay in January. The bill failed to pass a key procedural vote in the Senate today.
Both Sens. Rolland Burris and Richard Durbin voted in favor of preserving patients’ access to Medicare doctors.
“While we are disappointed by today’s outcome, we applaud Senators Durbin and Burris for voting to preserve access to doctors in Medicare and bring this bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote,” said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois State Director.
“This critical legislation would have helped the millions of older Americans in Medicare have access to the doctor of their choice by replacing the flawed doctor payment system.”
AARP strongly supports the Medicare Physician Fairness Act, introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
This legislation permanently repeals Medicare’s flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) physician payment formula, which has required repeated Congressional action to prevent unwarranted cuts that could harm access to doctors for people in Medicare.
Repealing the SGR will stop an unprecedented 21.5 percent pay cut that otherwise will occur in January 2010, and additional cuts in future years.
AARP notified the 111th Congress that it was tracking roll call votes on key legislation important to its 40 million members and reporting the outcomes of these votes back to its members.