President Obama's Weekly Address

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Weekly Address
Washington, DC

More than a decade ago, Congress set up a formula that governs how  doctors get paid by the Medicare program.  The intent was to slow the  growth of Medicare costs, but the result was a formula that has proposed  cutting payments for America’s doctors year after year after year.   These are cuts that would not only jeopardize our physicians’ pay, but  our seniors’ health care.
Since 2003, Congress has acted to prevent these pay cuts from going  into effect.  These votes were largely bipartisan, and they succeeded  when Democrats ran Congress and when Republicans ran Congress – which  was most of the time.
This year, a majority of Congress is willing to prevent a pay cut of  21% -- a pay cut that would undoubtedly force some doctors to stop  seeing Medicare patients altogether.  But this time, some Senate  Republicans may even block a vote on this issue.  After years of voting  to defer these cuts, the other party is now willing to walk away from  the needs of our doctors and our seniors.
Now, I realize that simply kicking these cuts down the road another  year is not a long-term solution to this problem.  For years, I have  said that a system where doctors are left to wonder if they’ll get  fairly reimbursed makes absolutely no sense.  And I am committed to  permanently reforming this Medicare formula in a way that balances  fiscal responsibility with the responsibility we have to doctors and  seniors.  In addition, we’re already taking significant steps to slow  the growth of Medicare costs through health insurance reform – not by  targeting doctors and seniors, but by eliminating 50% of the waste,  fraud, and abuse in the system by 2012.  This not only strengthens  Medicare, it saves taxpayer dollars.
I’m absolutely willing to take the difficult steps necessary to lower  the cost of Medicare and put our budget on a more fiscally sustainable  path.  But I’m not willing to do that by punishing hard-working  physicians or the millions of Americans who count on Medicare.  That’s  just wrong.  And that’s why in the short-term, Congress must act to  prevent this pay cut to doctors.
If they don’t act, doctors will see a 21% cut in their Medicare  payments this week.  This week, doctors will start receiving these lower  reimbursements from the Medicare program.  That could lead them to stop  participating in the Medicare program.  And that could lead seniors to  lose their doctors.
We cannot allow this to happen.  We have to fix this problem so that  our doctors can get paid for the life-saving services they provide and  keep their doors open.  We have to fix this problem to keep the promise  of Medicare for our seniors so that they get the health care they  deserve.  So I urge Republicans in the Senate to at least allow a  majority of Senators and Congressmen to stop this pay cut.  I urge them  to stand with America’s seniors and America’s doctors.
Thanks.