Shea-Porter Statement on H.R. 4015 – SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014

WASHINGTON, March 14 -- Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H. (1st CD), issued the following news release:

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) issued the following statement on H.R. 4015, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014, which the House of Representatives will vote on this morning.

"I will not support H.R. 4015 because it would delay the individual mandate for five years, seriously undermining the Affordable Care Act.

"Last week, I supported legislation that would delay the individual mandate penalty for one year. It was the right vote for my constituents because New Hampshire is one of just two states with only one insurer offering health care plans on the state Marketplace this year.

"Next year, Harvard Pilgrim and Minuteman are expected to offer insurance plans on New Hampshire's Marketplace. With this expansion, Granite Staters would have health insurance options just like individuals in 48 other states currently enjoy.

"I am frustrated and disappointed that House Republicans abandoned a bipartisan and bicameral fix to the Medicare sustainable growth rate in order to once again prove their opposition to the Affordable Care Act. I remain committed to finding a bipartisan solution to Medicare's SGR formula, and I look forward to putting the partisan games aside and focusing on making life better for New Hampshire families."

BACKGROUND The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) reported that H.R. 4015 would increase the number of Americans without health insurance by about 13 million in 2018. The CBO and JCT also estimated that premiums for policies in the individual market in 2018 would increase by 10% to 20% relative to current law.

A wide array of organizations - including doctors' groups, seniors' groups, and health insurers' groups - do not support the Republican approach to H.R. 4015.

"On behalf of the American Medical Association (AMA), I am writing to profess our profound disappointment that a strong, bicameral effort to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) has become a victim of partisan approaches to resolve budgetary issues. ... The AMA continues to strongly support the physician payment and delivery system reform policy contained in H.R. 4015/ S. 2000, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014. Congress is closer than ever to enacting legislation that would repeal the dysfunctional Medicare physician payment system because it has worked in a bipartisan, bicameral manner for over a year. This policy will only become law if Congress collaborates in a bipartisan manner to resolve the fiscal matters associated with this legislation".

-American Medical Association, 3/13/14

"On behalf of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), we are writing to express our strong opposition to repealing or delaying the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as part of the Medicare physician payment reform bill. ...we have deep concerns about packaging the Medicare physician payment bill with legislation that would sever the link between the ACA's individual mandate and its market reforms. The experience of states that attempted this in the 1990s demonstrates that removing this important linkage will result in more uninsured Americans, higher costs, and reduced choices for individuals and families. To avoid these outcomes, we are asking Congress to reject efforts to repeal or delay the individual mandate in the debate on Medicare physician payment reform."

-American Health Insurance Plans and Blue Cross BlueShield Association, 3/12/14

"The undersigned organizations, representing Medicare beneficiaries and providers, appreciate the bipartisan, bicameral work done to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) and reform the Medicare reimbursement system... The current effort to link SGR reform with changes to the Affordable Care Act, however, injects partisan politics into the bipartisan legislation. Access to health care for the more than 50 million Americans with Medicare is a serious matter - scheduling a vote on a bill which does not have bipartisan support undermines the months of hard work done by the Committees, their staffs, and concerned stakeholders."

-AARP, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, American Osteopathic Association, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Families USA, Medicare Rights Center, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the National Council on Aging, 3/12/14

"It is disturbing that work designed to expand access to quality health care would be advanced alongside a policy that deliberately removes access to quality health care coverage. Providing access to health care coverage for millions of Medicare beneficiaries while eliminating access to health care coverage for millions more is simply poor public policy and we urge that such approach be abandoned."

-American Academy of Family Physicians, 3/10/14

"The American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the national professional membership organization for more than 104,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students, is concerned that a new Medicare physician payment system that values high-quality patient care will not come to fruition unless the continued advancement of legislation already under consideration has bipartisan spirit. ... The AOA [American Osteopathic Association] does not support any approach to advance this important legislation that potentially interferes with patient access to high-quality care. In the end, our nation's patients will be the ones most at risk."

-American Osteopathic Association, 3/10/14

"After many months of hard work, the congressional committees with jurisdiction over Medicare have reached bipartisan agreement on a bill to repeal the broken Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4015/S. 2000) Yet, this historic bipartisan opportunity to eliminate the SGR, once and for all, is at risk of being upended because of partisan disagreements on how to address the budget impact of SGR repeal... We cannot support linking SGR repeal to changes in current law that will result in fewer people getting health insurance coverage."

-American College of Physicians, 3/10/14

"On behalf of the four million members of the Alliance for Retired Americans, I am writing to oppose the passage of H.R. 4015, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act. While the February 2014 agreement reached by the House and Senate to fix the sustainable growth rate formula in Medicare's physician reimbursement was bicameral and bipartisan, this legislation is not. This legislation turns its back on a good faith agreement by including an irresponsible pay-for. Under this egregious proposal, doctors would be paid on the backs of uninsured Americans."

-Alliance for Retired Americans, 3/13/14

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