•    The majority leadership claims this bill overhauls the Medicare physician payment system. This bill does not fix the broken Medicare physician payment system. While it is true the bill does replace the scheduled cut for next year, it does not replace the target system that has proved flawed. Rather, it takes the national target system Congress has almost never allowed to operate and breaks it into two national targets. 

•    If the argument for the past decade has been that a national target does not curb physician spending, why would two national targets be better than one?

•    The Medicare system for paying physicians is broken and the majority leadership’s bill does not change that. Specifically, it does not adjust for how some providers in this country are getting paid under Medicare at rates well below their cost of services. Why then would the majority tie payments for physicians who take patients in the government-run plan to Medicare rates? 

•    At our hearing a few weeks ago, we heard from one large medical group that in order to break even, the government run plan would have to pay them Medicare + 100 percent. The majority’s bill pays Medicare + 5 percent. And there are no guarantees it will be even that generous beyond year three. 

•    The majority should not tie physician payment under the government-run plan to the broken Medicare system. Doing so will only jeopardize access to care as providers are forced to lay-off health care workers and close clinics.