Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of the senior citizens in Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional District who rely on a Medicare system which makes predictable and stable payments to their physicians. I came to Washington, with one of the largest freshman classes in recent history, to make the difficult decisions that for too long have been deferred and delayed. I'm proud to have joined a bipartisan group of my fellow Representatives last spring in passing a budget resolution which addressed the long-term challenges facing Medicare. The budget resolution we supported provides fiscal stability to a program which will face severe cuts and drastic changes in the future without serious reform. However, while these basic reforms to the existing system are being debated, we are currently faced with a more pressing issue, the solution to which has already earned widespread support among lawmakers, doctors, and health care industry groups. The practicality of the sustainable growth formula for Medicare payments has been a subject of much debate in this Chamber since its implementation in 1997. Over the course of the past two decades, Congress has deemed it acceptable to provide for short-term, temporary fixes to ensure that doctors receive adequate payment for the services they provide to Medicare patients. Short-term fixes provide no stability or predictability to these important service providers.…”