Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26), Vice Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and Chairman of the Congressional Health Care Caucus, stood with Medicare patients and their doctors in rejecting another effort by Congress to merely delay the financial decision that must be resolved for a long term solution to the Sustainable Growth Rate formula used to reimburse Medicare treatment.  Dr. Burgess opposed combining three big policy pieces that each deserve individual consideration and separate votes.  This legislation obscured the tough decisions about financial priorities by mixing together the physician payment, a payroll tax holiday, and extension of unemployment benefits.   

“My record and my reasoning consistently support government’s commitment to ensuring patients have access to their physicians within Medicare, but not to treat this arrangement with another round of uncertainty and just another delay to the solution,” said Dr. Burgess. “I will continue to work for a positive and reliable result for Medicare patients and their physicians.  Today’s congressional vote buys just a few months, at a terrible cost – with another temporary and uncertain non-solution.  I am not supporting this repeated delay to a solution, but I will support the certainty that Congress knows must be in place so that doctors will have their doors open to receive Medicare patients.”

Dr. Burgess cited the need for lengthening the Sustainable Growth Rate for 2 years, not the half-measure of 10 months that also lacks a needed update for the rate.  He also noted the missed opportunity for Congress to correct the continued lack of support for standardizing Medicare coverage for DXA bone density scans for early identification of osteoporosis.  Additionally, inserting the extensions of unemployment rates and the payroll tax holiday, said the congressman, come at the price of adding $100 billion to the deficit this year.  

“There are those in Congress who fail to think of the cost of the government’s borrowing authority that with this legislation’s spending speeds government along even faster than the current spending limit of $10,000 a second,” said Dr. Burgess. “The non-solution to the payroll tax for workers continues to be an unacceptable diversion of the FICA payments from going into the Social Security Trust Fund.”

“Kicking the decision once again down the road and right to the edge of the calendar in the final days of the year is even more dangerous when I look at the problems that collide at one time at year’s end – expiration of the current middle income tax cuts, this Medicare physicians reimbursement, and the payroll tax cut – all with no plan to pay for it, but to spend deeper into deficit.”

The conference report passed the House by 293 to 132 followed by Senate approval of 60 to 36.