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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Medicare Update

19 June 2002

I recently held an Inslee Issue Forum on the effects of inadequate Medicare funding for Washington State seniors. Local seniors, physicians, hospitals and nursing homes all explained the consequences of underfunding Medicare, and I am convinced that solving this problem must be a high priority for Congress.

As you may be aware, a crisis developing in the health care industry is resulting in providers being forced to cut back on the services they provide, particularly to those that need it most. I am making every effort to ensure that our health care system offers patients access to quality, affordable service and reimburses health care professionals in a fair manner. I know that doctors do not want to turn away patients and would not do so unless absolutely necessary. It is up to Congress and the President to ensure proper reimbursement for health care services so doctors do not have to go to such drastic measures to stay in business and serve patients.

Washington State suffers a geographic discrimination in the Medicare program. The Medicare reimbursement system essentially penalizes beneficiaries who live in areas, like our state, where health care costs have been more efficient. Medicare does not pay local health care providers the cost of their services, but instead pays a pre-decided, fixed amount for each service. Compared with health providers in most other states, however, Washington State health providers receive much less money for their services, sometimes only half the amount that other states receive. As a result of these unfair payments and other Medicare cuts, some physicians have gone out of business, left the state, or have begun turning away Medicare/Medicaid patients.

In an effort to resolve this problem, I am a cosponsoring legislation, H.R. 4850, the MediFair Act of 2002, along with several other Members of the Washington State delegation, that will eliminate this regional inequity. Members of Congress in many other parts of the country do not understand that changes to the Medicare reimbursement rates may be a problem to them, but it is a crisis for states like Washington that suffer severely low Medicare reimbursements. Until we address this inequity, the financial viability of health care providers in Washington State will be subject to every hiccup in the Medicare system.

I also sent a letter to Speaker Hastert and Minority Leader Gephardt urging them to correct the regional reimbursement disparities. We have a historic opportunity to change the reimbursement payment structure. As a member of the House Medicare and Medicaid Fairness Caucus, I am working with other Members of Congress in a bipartisan way to push for a permanent solution to this problem.

This regional inequity exacerbates the past and future reimbursement rate cut to medical care providers under the Medicare plan. For that reason, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 3351, the Medicare Physician Payment Fairness Act of 2001. This bill would specify an update for payments under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2002 and direct a study reexamining the formula used for future update.

Unfortunately, I am concerned that the administration has chosen to take an approach that has set us on a track that drains Social Security and Medicare surpluses to pay for a very large tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. Without a change to this approach, this situation will become even more significant in the future, as 75% of the tax cut passed has yet to take effect. In response to a letter I wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson requesting an increase in Medicare reimbursements, the administration wrote back that any increases in physician reimbursements would have to be paid for by cutting the funding for a different group of providers (such as nursing homes). This tactic of robbing Peter to pay Paul will not solve our problems. Furthermore, this untenable decision has resulted in forcing doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers to fight amongst themselves for fewer funds. I believe that this is an incorrect approach to the problem. We should not have to choose between providing care for the elderly and adequately reimbursing doctors. We need to ensure that all of our health care providers are adequately reimbursed for their efforts to care for those people who need it most, and I will continue to work in Congress toward that goal.

Finally, you may also be interested to know that the Concord Coalition has compiled a Congressional Scorecard in recognition of Members of Congress who have made tough choices necessary to balance the budget and put programs like Social Security and Medicare on a sustainable, long-term track. I am proud to be listed on their honor roll for my support of these priorities.

These policies are an important step in improving America's health care system and making sure there are enough skilled professionals to care for our loved ones. You can rest assured that I will continue to work with my colleagues, and listen to health care professionals, to improve health care education and professional opportunities in our country.