Political Quotes

“it is my hope that soon the Senate will be about to start voting on legislation that in one fell swoop will improve health care for millions of Americans. This discussion should start with a Medicare milestone. That milestone is abolishing once and for all the outdated, inefficiency-rewarding, commonsense-defying system of paying physicians under the Medicare Program. As my colleague from New Hampshire knows, what I am talking about in the technical lingo of health care is the SGR, the sustainable growth rate. It is a horrendously flawed formula for paying doctors and providers who treat our Medicare patients. Yet despite this very sour pedigree, it has dominated much of the discussion about Medicare since 1997. I wish we had put this flawed reimbursement system in the dustbin of history last year. As some of my colleagues know, I had sought to do that, along with the support of others. But I think now we have reached the point, on a bipartisan basis, where we have a chance for seniors and their providers to cross the victory line and be better off and have a better system for all Americans. I thought I would take a minute or two before discussing some of the other health care efforts that I hope will go forward today to describe how this happens. A little over a year ago, there was not much reason to think we would not just keep passing this leaky boat. That is essentially what the Senate had been doing for years and years with this flawed program.…”