Max Baucus: “earlier today my colleague on the Finance Committee, Chairman Grassley, offered an amendment to S. 1054, the pending tax…”

“earlier today my colleague on the Finance Committee, Chairman Grassley, offered an amendment to S. 1054, the pending tax bill, to improve Medicare funding for rural patients and providers. I supported the amendment, which passed, 86-12. Many of the Grassley amendment's provisions were taken from S. 3018, Medicare legislation Senator Grassley and I introduced legislation last year. Many of those provisions were also included in the Senate Rural Health Caucus bill, which I support. And several of the provisions have been recommended by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which advises Congress on Medicare payment policy. Taken together, these changes--including an equalization of the hospital base payment amount, changes to the Critical Access Hospital program, and language to improve access to physician care in rural areas--will go a long way toward ensuring greater geographic equity in Medicare reimbursement. That said, I believe the way in which the Senate passed these provisions--as an amendment to tax legislation--is far from perfect.”