Al Franken: “recently the Senate failed to permanently repeal the current system of automatic payment cuts for physicians who treat…”

“recently the Senate failed to permanently repeal the current system of automatic payment cuts for physicians who treat Medicare patients and to replace it with a more sensible system for reimbursing physicians. Instead, the Senate voted--yet again--to pass a short-term patch to this broken system, which postponed these payment cuts for one more year. After talking with Medicare providers in my State, I decided to oppose this legislation since it provides only a bandaid for a wholly broken system. I believe that an enduring solution is possible and absolutely necessary, and I will continue to fight for a more sustainable replacement that rewards physicians for the high-quality care they deliver. Minnesota is No. 1 in the Nation when it comes to the quality of the health care that we provide. If our system of reimbursement could reward providers for their efficiency and quality--rather than the quantity of the services they administer--we could improve the value of the care that our seniors receive while rewarding providers who keep patients healthy. We can do that by overhauling the Medicare physician payment formula and implementing a system that rewards health care value over volume, and there has never been a better moment to do that than now.…”