Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to join with Senator Stabenow of Michigan to introduce The Preservation of Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2011. The companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is being introduced by Representative Michael Burgess with Representative Shelley Berkley. Since 1997, Congress has recognized the necessity of osteoporosis prevention by standardizing coverage for bone mass measurement under the Medicare program. At that time, I actively pursued inclusion of the language in the Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Standardization bill as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Later, with the passage of health care reform legislation, Congress enacted a temporary solution to the problem caused by Medicare cuts in reimbursement rates for osteoporosis screening tests through bone mass measurements. The osteoporosis screening provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act returned the Medicare reimbursement level to 70 percent of the 2006 Medicare reimbursement rate. Regrettably, this provision will expire at the end of the calendar year. For Medicare beneficiaries, this sunset means that access to osteoporosis diagnosis, prevention, and treatment will once again be in jeopardy as Medicare reimbursement rates for osteoporosis screening will plummet by about 50 percent on January 1, 2012.…”