James M. Jeffords: “I first want to salute the Senator from Montana, Mr. Baucus, as well as my good friend and colleague, Senator Grassley…”

“I first want to salute the Senator from Montana, Mr. Baucus, as well as my good friend and colleague, Senator Grassley, for their bipartisan effort and leadership in crafting S. 3018, the Beneficiary Access to Care and Medicare Equity Act of 2002. As the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, they have worked long and hard on legislation that is critically important to the future of health care for our citizens that rely on Medicare. I am proud to be a cosponsor of S. 3018, and I urge all of our colleagues to support its passage as soon as possible. Vermont, like so many of our States, has a healthcare system that is facing reductions in levels of Medicare reimbursement that are untenable. In some cases, these reductions took effect on October 1 and others will occur at the end of this month. The cuts have already led to fewer physicians and services being available to care for our elders.”