Shelley Berkley: “we have a problem. Without immediate congressional action, there are seniors in our country who will not receive medical…”

“we have a problem. Without immediate congressional action, there are seniors in our country who will not receive medical care from their doctor next year. Payments to physicians who provide health care services to Medicare patients will be cut by over 5 percent as of January 1, 2007. If Congress fails to act before we adjourn this year, this cut will automatically go into effect. The result will be reduced access to care for Medicare patients across our Nation. Older Americans should not have to worry that their doctors will be forced to stop treating them because Congress did not act. At a time when physician costs are skyrocketing, we cannot expect our doctors to lose money when they treat Medicare patients. There is still time to act, but the clock is ticking, and seniors are looking to Congress for leadership on this important issue. The 109th Congress will soon end. It would be an outrage and a dereliction of duty if the Republican Congress, in its final days, does not fix this serious problem to avert a potential health care crisis for millions of our fellow Americans. I urge that we pass a Medicare reimbursement fix before we leave this week.”