Democrats Choose Political Games Over Protecting Medicare Beneficiaries, Says U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 28 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PST

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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, on Friday said Democrats put political interests ahead of Medicare beneficiaries by allowing a deadline to prevent payment cuts to expire. Sen. Cornyn made the following statement:

"It is regrettable that this vital payment update has fallen prey to election year grandstanding. This hardship on patients and doctors could have been easily prevented if the Majority Leader had not objected to a 30-day extension of current law while negotiations continue.

"The Democrats knew these cuts could have been prevented through an extension or a bipartisan bill. Yet they insisted on a partisan proposal by Sen. Baucus that would produce a certain veto and indefinite delay as the process started over.

"There is no good reason for Medicare beneficiaries and their physicians to endure this uncertainty, hardship and inconvenience. But that is apparently what the majority party wanted, for their own political ambitions.

"To avoid a negative impact on beneficiaries and doctors, I am supporting an effort to work with the White House to prevent these cuts from going into effect administratively while bipartisan negotiations continue.

"I introduced the Ensuring the Future Physician Workforce Act earlier this year because I have long felt that the current physician payment system is broken. Simply put, the physician payment system needs to be permanently reformed in order to prevent the problems we saw this week in the Senate and the uncertainty it produces. I will continue that fight. In the interim, I would urge all parties to work together to resolve this issue on a long-term basis that benefits patients, doctors and our entire health care system."

Background

Earlier this year, Sen. Cornyn introduced the Ensuring the Future Physician Workforce Act of 2008, which would prevent the payment cuts, then eliminate the reimbursement cap and focus on securing a viable, future generation of physicians to provide improved health care at lower costs for patients. Sen. Cornyn's legislation, endorsed by Texas Medical Association, would also take several steps to improve the physician-patient relationship and help patients better evaluate the care they receive.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.

http://cornyn.senate.gov