On 12/13/2022, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today attempted to pass his Protecting Medicare Patients and Physicians Act through the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would protect patients and health care providers from a total of 8.5 percent in planned Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements, but Democrats immediately blocked the bill. He said, “The centers for Medicare and Medicaid services CMS or Medicare as I’ve been referring to it has just released their 2023 physician fee schedule the new fee schedule has come out and because of the formula and because of the budget new travelty requirements CMS is proposing or Medicare is proposing a four and a half percent across the board reduction in Medicare payments well it it gets even more difficult due to the 1.9 trillion dollar deficit increase caused by the American Rescue Plan and under our budget rules paco sequestration is going to be triggered by the American Rescue Plan and that’s going to require an additional four percent reduction across the board in payments to physicians and hospitals so unless we do something every physician that treats a patient who is on Medicare doesn’t matter what for is going to be paid eight and a half percent less in the middle of raging inflation in the middle of not only doctor shortages staff shortages as well and you do not have to be a senior at Caltech to figure out. “
“Louisianians are already struggling under Pres. Biden’s failed economic policies. Prices have skyrocketed more than 13 percent since this president took office, and Medicare cuts would put more people at risk. I offered a plan to protect the people who rely on Medicare and the doctors who take care of them—without taking another dime from taxpayers. It’s unbelievable that Democrats killed this commonsense, responsible solution,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s bill would help more doctors keep their doors open to Medicare patients, giving patients more options for accessing quality care.
The bill would put unused Covid money from the Provider Relief Fund that has been returned to the Department of Health and Human Services to use, so Kennedy’s bill would require no new federal spending. The American Rescue Plan originally allocated money to the Provider Relief Fund to help hospitals struggling as a result of the pandemic. Using those leftover funds to help patients and doctors who are suffering under the Biden administration’s historic levels of inflation represents a fiscally responsible solution to help vulnerable Americans.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have cosponsored the legislation.
The Protecting the American Taxpayer and Medicare Act would:
Delay the planned two percent Medicare sequester payment reductions that are scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, 2022.
Waive Congress’s Pay-As-You-Go rule until 2023, which would prevent sequestration for all mandatory spending programs in 2022. This includes cuts to agricultural programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.
Continue the three percent increase to Medicare physicians through Dec. 31, 2022 to help providers care for patients in the wake of the pandemic.
Delay reductions in Medicare payments to clinical laboratory fees through Dec. 31, 2022 to preserve access to testing and laboratory services.
Delay the implementation of the Medicare radiation oncology model through Dec. 31, 2022 to ensure access to care for cancer patients.
Provide $45 million in savings to the Medicare Improvement Fund, for a total balance of $101 million.
Failure to waive the Pay-As-You-Go rule would result in $9.4 billion in cuts to Medicare hospital providers in 2022. Cuts to Medicare overall would be $36 billion, or a four percent reduction.
Some senators want to tie Medicare protections to a measure increasing the debt ceiling by a fixed dollar amount, even though Senate Democrats can address the debt ceiling themselves through the reconciliation process. Kennedy’s legislation would protect Medicare from sequestrations without also raising the debt ceiling.
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Medicare 8.5% cuts due to $1.9B American Rescue Plan, 8% inflation Dems block Kennedy bill to protect Medicare patients