Senate GOP urges action on short-term Medicare bill

The Senate Republican leadership, amid a negative public relations campaign being waged by Democrats and the nation’s physicians, urged Thursday that the Senate act quickly on a short-term solution to a cut in Medicare fees to doctors.

“There is no reason for Congress to have recessed without addressing this important issue. Republicans have requested an extension of current law multiple times and each time the majority objected,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

{mosads}A 10.6 percent cut in Medicare physician payments was instituted Tuesday after Congress was unable to reach a deal on legislation averting the cut. Republicans, who have received the brunt of the criticism from doctors for not stopping the new fee schedule from going into effect, hope to shift the blame for the current situation to the Democrats.

The Senate voted last Thursday on a House-passed bill that would have blocked the cut, but the bid came up one vote short. The American Medical Association has been running television ads in six states, most of which have Republican senators up for reelection, urging the Senate GOP to back off its opposition to the measure, which passed the House 355-59 last Tuesday.

McConnell and his colleagues note that Democrats rebuffed Republican efforts to bring a one-month fix to the Senate floor and exhort Reid to immediately take up that option when the Senate returns next week from Congress’s Independence Day recess.

“We could have, and should have, passed this bill last Thursday before adjourning the Senate and while the House could have acted in time. We must now act to extend this law so that we can reach a bipartisan resolution. Failure to act on a short-term extension sends the message that politics trumps the well-being of Medicare beneficiaries and providers,” the GOP leaders said.

The overwhelming House vote took place after Grassley and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) were unable to devise a bipartisan compromise. Baucus abandoned those talks in May and unsuccessfully brought his own bill to the floor for a vote on June 12.

The House subsequently took action on legislation based on Baucus’s bill and, despite a veto threat from the White House, passed the bill with more than 129 Republicans voting with the Democratic majority.

With such a large margin of victory in the House, Senate Democrats and physician groups wagered that Senate Republicans, especially those in close reelection races, would move to support the bill, but the strategy did not work.

Before the Senate left for recess last week, Reid vowed to return to the House-passed bill when Congress returned.

A Senate Democratic aide indicated that this remains the plan.

“There is significant concern that a short-term fix would cause rampant confusion and difficulty in filing for doctors and [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] alike. Congress needs to pass the full, 18-month fix and get it into law now,” the aide said.

The White House, many congressional Republicans and the health insurance industry object to provisions in the bill that would reduce spending on private Medicare Advantage plans, saying the legislation would reduce the availability of certain types of plans.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, has been running television ads against the bill this week.

In the meantime, the Bush administration said it would not process Medicare claims by doctors until July 15 to minimize the disruption while Congress reconsiders a legislative fix. Senate Democrats say the administration is exaggerating its efforts, noting that Medicare is not permitted to pay claims for at least 14 days under any circumstance.