House to Vote Tuesday on Critical Medicare Bill
Call Congress and Urge them to Act Before July 1 Deadline
[Posted 06/23/08]

With action stalled in the Senate, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a bill to stop the Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements scheduled to take effect July 1.

In a procedural vote on June 13, the Senate blocked a bill by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) that would have stopped the Medicare cuts scheduled to take effect July 1. Although nine Republicans voted for the bill, it fell six votes short of passing. This defeat has sent both sides back to the negotiating table. With only five legislative working days left before the July 1 deadline, all of medicine is working very hard to get legislation passed to stop these devastating cuts.

While the Senate continues its rancorous negotiations, the House of Representatives has decided to force the issue by passing its own bill once again. (As you may remember, the House passed the CHAMP Act last July, which would have stopped the cuts in 2008 and 2009, replacing them instead with 0.5 percent increases in each of those years.) The House will be voting on HR 6331 on Tuesday morning. HR 6331 is nearly identical to Baucus’s bill that failed in the Senate. It would stop the 10.6 percent cut on July 1 and the 5 percent cut on January 1, 2009, extending the 0.5 percent increase through the end of 2008 and giving physicians a 1.1 percent update in 2009

The House vote is extremely important and could be one of the last chances to pass legislation before the July 1 deadline. The bill will be considered on the suspension calendar. This process limits debate, but requires a two-thirds majority to pass. We are asking all physicians to call their representatives TODAY and urge them to vote yes on HR 6331. (Call AMA grassroots hotline at 800/833-6354 to automatically be connected to your member of Congress.)

While CMA continues to be extremely frustrated that Congress has not yet been able to enact a long-term fix, we are pleased to see that Congress is trying to pass legislation to stop the 15 percent cuts. Both Democrats and Republicans are quick to assure physicians that it is their intent to enact long-term reform next year.

Physicians are also urged to keep the pressure on the Senate. Call California Senators Dianne Feinstein (202/224-3841) and Barbara Boxer (202/224-3553), thank them for their continued support of physicians, and tell them how devastating these cuts will be to your practice and to health care in general. Please also urge the senators to continue fighting to include CMA’s GPCI fix in the final bill.

Stay tuned for more information.

Contact: Elizabeth McNeil, 415/882-3376 or emcneil@cmanet.org.