Jim McDermott: “Nothing is going to happen in the Senate on taxes.”

Last year, we came together with MACRA. That landmark reform repealed the SGR and already started the process of transforming how we try to pay physicians under Medicare.

Now, the reason I raise this issue is that we all know that about 70 percent of healthcare costs occur in the last 6 months of life.

The best way to improve and sustain Medicare is by expanding it and strengthening it because, unfortunately, there are holes in the program that weaken health security of our beneficiaries.

This area is such a large part of our economy as well as such a large part of our question of national security.