UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN MIKE McINTYRE

Health Care

As a member of the Steering Committee and former Co-Chairman of the Rural Health Care Coalition, I am concerned about the current state of our nation’s health care system. Unfortunately, 41 million Americans are uninsured and in desperate need of adequate health care. Since I was elected to Congress in 1996, I have been working to provide relief to our hospitals and health systems, improve options for seniors, and increase the accessibility and affordability of health care. I am especially concerned about the unique needs of residents in rural areas who are often forced to drive great distances to receive care at a hospital or doctor’s office. In order to provide these citizens with quality health care, we must make a strong federal investment to expand services in rural areas.

A slow economy has resulted in a number of financial challenges for our area’s hospitals and health systems. Budget cuts at the state level threaten the stability of Medicare and Medicaid funding that many of our providers depend on for services. As our health care providers struggle to account for the shortfall in Medicare payments, they are often forced to reduce staff salaries, cut services, or limit investment in technology, equipment, and infrastructure. These sacrifices not only jeopardize quality care, but also limit the number of patients hospitals can afford to serve. With over 15% of North Carolina’s population living without health insurance, we must ensure that our hospitals, health centers, home health agencies, and hospices, receive enough funding to meet the growing need for health services. In order to protect these important services, I will continue working to provide immediate financial relief to local and state governments to prevent reductions in Medicare and Medicaid assistance.

In fact, I have joined several of my colleagues in cosponsoring legislation that would increase funding to Medicaid. This measure, the State Budget Relief Act, would provide immediate financial assistance to local and state governments in order to support increases in Medicaid enrollment. In addition, this legislation would limit reductions in Medicaid coverage due to state budget shortfalls.

In February 2004, the President released his budget for fiscal year 2005, which included a cut in funding for Medicaid. In March, I voted against the U.S. House budget resolution because the bill included a provision to cut Medicaid by $2.2 billion. If we are to maintain the support to our states that Medicaid provides, we must ensure that the program is adequately funded. Fortunately, when the budget resolution came before the full U.S. House for final consideration on May 19, it did not include these cuts.

In addition to increasing health care access for our residents, I am also committed to improving the quality of care for our senior citizens. As the cost of prescription drugs continues to rise, many seniors find they can no longer afford the medicine they need to live healthy lives. Our seniors deserve a sensible, balanced, and fair Medicare-prescription drug benefit that will help the individuals who need it most. No senior should have to make the choice between buying groceries and purchasing the monthly medicine needed to live a healthy life.

On December 8, 2003, the Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2003 was signed into law. Although I was supportive of several of the bill’s provisions, I was unable to support it because it fell far short of protecting our nation's senior citizens in the availability and affordability of prescription drugs. I am confident that we can provide a better benefit than the new law, which makes seniors pay $4000 for $1000 of benefits. We can also do better than letting thousands of retirees in North Carolina lose their prescription drug benefit coverage from their former employees. Furthermore, we should not be at the mercy of private insurance companies to deliver fair and cheap prescription drug coverage to our seniors. Medicare controls the plan I support – not the private sector. This ensures that Medicare beneficiaries have access to quality pharmaceuticals regardless of where they choose to live.

I am very pleased that the bill provides $25 billion in relief for rural providers starting in 2005. This is legislative relief that I have strongly supported. This would provide the necessary Medicare reimbursements for our doctors and hospitals and additional dollars for home health, skilled nursing facilities, community health centers and rural ambulance services. As the former Co-Chairman of the Rural Health Care Coalition, I worked tirelessly on these issues for the past several years, and I remain committed to providing additional resources and funding for our rural providers as a member of the Coalition’s Executive Committee. These individuals are on the front lines of providing adequate health care to our low-income, rural areas, and they deserve this long-awaited benefit.

Throughout the U.S. Congress’s consideration of the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, I supported several measures that would have vastly improved the bill. I voted repeatedly to reject the privatization of Medicare and provide for a defined drug benefit for seniors. I also voted to improve rural health care, in addition to providing increases in Medicare reimbursements to physicians and increased payments to hospitals. Unfortunately, none of these measures passed the U.S. House, but I will continue the fight to stop discrimination against rural America when it comes to our health care dollars and services.