Gridlock has paralyzed the U.S. Senate, derailing a critical bipartisan bill that would have stopped a 10.6-percent cut to doctors who treat Medicare patients, kept Medicare premiums fair, and made significant improvements to a program that 44 million Americans depend on.

 

Last week, Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker joined a minority of senators in voting to block legislation that would have helped people on Medicare maintain access to their doctors, keep premiums fair and improve benefits for the most vulnerable, while boosting health care quality through national e-prescribing. The Senate vote on the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331), which passed by a bipartisan landslide in the House of Representatives, was purposely scheduled for June 26 so it would become law before the cuts to doctor payments were to go into effect on July 1.

 

“We are deeply troubled that our senators - Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker - voted to block a bill with bipartisan support that would have preserved patients’ access to their doctors and improved Medicare for the millions of Americans who depend on it,” said AARP Tennessee Director Rebecca Kelly. “For the sake of older Americans, people with disabilities and military families, we urge Senators Alexander and Corker to listen to their constituents and reconsider their votes when the bill comes up again after the congressional recess.”

 

In addition to preventing a 10-percent cut to reimbursements to doctors, the Medicare bill would have: helped keep premiums fair; strengthened protections for lower income beneficiaries; improved Medicare’s coverage of preventive services; and made Medicare more efficient through electronic prescribing. The Senate is currently scheduled to reconsider H.R. 6331 immediately following the July 4 recess.

 

“Because of the stance our two senators took, the Senate went home for the July 4^th recess leaving care for our nation’s seniors, disabled individuals, and military families hanging in the balance,” said Robert D. Kirkpatrick, MD, TMA’s president. “We call on Senator Alexander and Senator Corker to reconsider their votes and return to Washington to do what’s right – vote to ensure patient access to care and improve health security for 44 million Americans.”

 

Throughout the debate on Medicare legislation, AARP, AMA, and the Tennessee Medical Association have engaged their members in the fight to keep Medicare fair and protect access to doctors for more than 1 million Tennesseans who count on Medicare for their health insurance. Hundreds of thousands of AARP supporters, including 14,602 in Tennessee, called and emailed Congress, signed petitions, wrote letters to their local papers, and participated in Keep Medicare Fair events around the country over the last several weeks. In addition, more than 41,000 patients and physicians called Congress in June through the AMA grassroots hotline, and the AMA is airing new radio and television ads that urge opponents of H.R. 6331 to put patients’ access to care before insurance profits by voting for the bill as soon as they return to Washington from their holiday recess.

 

 

The Tennessee Medical Association is a 7,500-member professional organization for medical doctors dedicated to protecting the health interests of patients and enhancing the effectiveness of physicians throughout the state. To find out more about TMA programs and services, visit our Web site at www.medwire.org.