Rep. Roe: Bipartisan Bill Will Strengthen Medicare

Bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate formula will strengthen Medicare so it works better for everyone, Rep. Phil Roe, a Tennessee physician for more than 31 years, said in Saturday's GOP address.

"We're delivering the first real entitlement reform in nearly two decades," Roe said of the bipartisan legislation passed in the House this past week.

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Part of the problem with Medicare, he said, is that Americans earn far more in benefits than they paid in over the course of their lifetime.

"Right now, a married couple — both 66, both making average earnings — will receive more than double in benefits what they actually contribute in Medicare payroll taxes over the course of their lifetimes," Roe said. "That’s unsustainable. It’s what’s driving our debt, and robbing our kids and our grandkids of benefits they’ll never see"

Further, the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate formula will soon hit doctors with an automatic 21 percent cut on payments they get for treating Medicare patients, which Roe said "jeopardizes seniors' access to physicians they count on every day."

The legislation passed this week, though would help both problems, the lawmaker said.

"These reforms ask higher-income seniors, like myself, to pay a little more for their premiums for Part B and D, and encourage certain beneficiaries to think more like consumers when it comes to their health care, a concept we know is the right approach to reducing healthcare costs," Roe said. "Both reforms will be phased in over time."

This plan means an end of concern and frustration for seniors that their care will suffer from arbitrary cuts, and for families, it means a more stable Medicare program for their elderly loved ones, Roe said.

Taxpayers will also enjoy a huge amount of savings for decades to come, he continued.

Much more will need done for the nation's healthcare system, said Roe.

"We need to repeal the president’s flawed health care law," he said. "We need to put the focus on patient-centered reforms that lower costs, and we need to make the real reforms necessary to ensure Medicare and all of our entitlement programs can serve future generations."

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