Here is the text of a September 17th letter from Senator Maria Cantwell and 27 others to President Barack Obama about Medicare reimbursement rates.
Dear Mr. President:
As you continue working with Congress to facilitate the passage of health care reform legislation, we write to emphasize the need to realign spending in the Medicare program to focus on providing more value to beneficiaries. We support many of the Medicare payment reforms that are included in current versions of health care reform legislation, but believe additional effort must be made to get better care at a lower cost.
Here is video of Senator Maria Cantwell and Govornor Chris Gregoire discussing healthcare reform options with local industry leadership. The discussion took place on Tuesday, June 30th at University of Washington School of Medicine before an overflow crowd. This was the first time Senator Cantwell came out in favor of a public option.
At a far smaller-scale town hall today, President Barack Obama said, “I think a public option is affordable.” He also spoke directly to those worried about the costs of healthcare reform, saying, “If you’re a deficit hawk, you should be especially concerned about healthcare reform, because Medicare is going to be bankrupt in eight years.”
Read the letter from Washington State Representatives Rick Larsen, Norm Dicks, Brian Baird, Adam Smith, and several more from around the country here: Click Here to download the letter.
In the above letter to the House leadership, several Washington State representatives and others from around the country suggest they will not vote for a healthcare reform package unless Medicare reimbursements inequities are addressed.
Physicians’ groups have been pushing to correct inequities in reimbursement rates in numerous government healthcare programs, and the MediFair Act, sponsored by Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, is an attempt at reaching that goal.
Due to lower reimbursement rates many Washington State physicians have struggled financially to provide healthcare for the Medicare patients they have or to accept new Medicare lives into their care.
With additional resources, Washington physicians can reinvest in patient care. This includes funding chronic care registries and health record banking that would have pronounced beneficial effects on healthcare delivery.
Washington physicians would receive about $1200 more per beneficiary if Washington State Medicare reimbursement rates were increased to the national average. Statewide, it represents an increase of over $1 billion.
Proponents of balancing the Medicare reimbursement rates suggest the current system is not the most effective path toward providing the highest quality patient care for patients in Washington State.
