Gus Bilirakis: “I thank and appreciate my friend from Kentucky. He does a great job on the Energy and Commerce Committee and as vice…”

“I thank and appreciate my friend from Kentucky. He does a great job on the Energy and Commerce Committee and as vice chairman on the Health Subcommittee. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act. I am a proud cosponsor of this bill, and I am glad we are passing this much-needed bill. The Affordable Care Act created the Independent Payment Advisory Board. This board of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats was charged with the single goal of cutting Medicare payments to physicians and hospitals. We can't let that happen. This poorly conceived scheme could force physicians to exit the Medicare Program or limit their Medicare patients. We can't let that happen. This would create an access-to-care problem for the 170,000 Medicare beneficiaries in my district. When I am back in the district talking to seniors, senior advocates, local physicians, hospitals, practically everyone has raised concerns with this board. This is a commonsense repeal bill. They say that it hasn't been implemented yet, it hasn't been set up yet. Okay. Well, let's get rid of it. Most people don't want it. Mr. Speaker, again, we need to pass this particular bill. We need to abolish this bad idea. {time} 1630”