Doug Bereuter: “I advise Members that today I am introducing the Rural Equity Payment Index Reform Act, a bill that will address the…”

“I advise Members that today I am introducing the Rural Equity Payment Index Reform Act, a bill that will address the difference in reimbursement levels between urban and rural physicians and other health professionals. The formulas presently used by the Medicare program to reimburse these health professionals for beneficiaries' medical care do not accurately measure the cost of providing services; and, consequently, Medicare currently pays rural providers less than it should for equal work. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ``physician work'' is the amount of time, skill and intensity a physician puts into patients' visits. Physicians and other health care providers in rural areas put in as much or even more time, skill and intensity into a patient visit as do physicians in urban areas. Yet, rural physicians are paid less for their work. This is not only unfair, it is discriminatory. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to consider cosponsoring this legislation. We do not take it away from the urban health care providers. We do adjust upward the formula for rural areas.”