Arlen Specter: “Senator Casey and I, along with our colleagues, Senators Stabenow, Conrad, Lautenberg, Schumer and Dorgan, filed an…”

“Senator Casey and I, along with our colleagues, Senators Stabenow, Conrad, Lautenberg, Schumer and Dorgan, filed an amendment to H.J. Res. 52, the appropriations continuing resolution for fiscal year 2008, to extend the Medicare section 508 program for 2 years. For a considerable period of time, there have been a number of hospitals in Pennsylvania and across the country that have been suffering from low Medicare wage index reimbursement, which has caused them great disadvantage in comparison to surrounding areas. Hospitals in these counties are surrounded by MSAs--metropolitan statistical areas--with higher Medicare reimbursements, and as a result, a flight of critical medical personnel occurs as hospitals are not able to provide employees with competitive wages. During the consideration of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, I met with Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Max Baucus about the bill provisions, including the need for a solution to the Medicare area wage index reclassification problem in Pennsylvania.”