On the recordDecember 16, 2005
I absolutely do. I think we are facing the possibility of physicians fleeing the Medicare program and creating a real access problem for seniors to physicians of their choice. But acceding to the Senate position is not going to fix it; it is going to exacerbate it. We need a better fix than the Senate offers. We need one without the threat of a 6 percent cut in the year after that which is absolutely unconscionable. So the negotiations are about finding better solutions. And that is one area in which we need a better solution, but if you cannot negotiate, if you do not have the latitude, you cannot get to the right answer. And this resolution tells you what the right answer is, when it is not the right answer and abandons the opportunity to negotiate in a number of areas.
Source
govinfo.gov
