Washington, D.C. - Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-El Paso), released the following prepared remarks in support of overriding the President's veto of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act:

Madame Speaker, I rise in strong support of overriding the President’s veto of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.

For the past several weeks, Congress has debated an issue that should not be considered controversial health care for our nation's seniors. This important piece of legislation addresses impeding cuts to physicians' Medicare payment rates. The issue not only affects seniors in my district of El Paso, Texas, but also hurts access to health care for all El Pasoans.

The most important issue to consider when discussing this bill is that the provisions not only stop the impeding 10.6 percent cut, but it ensures that seniors and people with disabilities can continue to see the doctors of their choice.

It is also critical to understand that a cut to Medicare will have a significant impact on similar programs. For instance, these cuts would not only affect those covered by Medicare, but it would also threaten access to health care for military members and their families under the military health program, TRICARE. Physicians serving our troops also face the 10.6 percent cut because TRICARE payments are directly tied to Medicare.

Also, private insurance companies look to Medicare to base their physician reimbursement rates. Physicians in El Paso and across the nation rely on reimbursement by Medicare and other health care insurance groups to cover health care services rendered when a patient does not pay the full cost of care. In a recent survey of Texas physicians, more than 60 percent stated they would be forced to stop seeing Medicare patients should their reimbursement rates be cut.

H.R. 6331 is significant legislation that eliminates the cuts to Medicare payments for the remainder of 2008 and provides a 1.1 percent increase for 2009. The bill also extends and improves low-income assistance programs for Medicare beneficiaries. Finally, the bill protects seniors’ access to therapy services.

I am extremely disappointed by the President's veto of this critical legislative proposal.  This veto sends the wrong message to seniors by not providing them with access to quality health care, as this bill would do. 

Madame Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of overriding the veto and by doing so, support Medicare beneficiaries' ability to choose their physicians."

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