Petition updateOur veterans have fought to protect this country, now Congress needs to protect their healthcare - fix TRICARE now
Mike Honda
AMA Patients' Action Network
Nov 25, 2013
I am grateful to the men and women who bravely serve our country and defend our freedom and families. They answered the call to serve with honor and courage, and our country needs to hold up its end of the bargain. This includes TRICARE, which guarantees essential health protections to veterans and their families and is required to pay healthcare providers the same rates they receive under Medicare for similar services, if possible. These rates are determined by the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), which may reduce payments to healthcare providers if Medicare outlays exceed projections during the fiscal year.
Unfortunately the SGR formula has proven unwieldy, and Congress has overridden the expected cuts to providers every year except 2002. Clearly a new solution is needed to provide certainty for Medicare providers and the TRICARE system. Doctors have been hamstrung by doubt over reimbursement rates, and patients have had to pay the eventual price in uneven, substandard quality of care. Short-term Congressional legislative patches have only added to the cost of fixing the problem.
To address this unsustainable situation, I recently wrote to Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi urging that we enact reforms that permanently replace the flawed SGR formula with a system that helps control costs. Such a fix will ensure that our veterans have uninterrupted access to care.
I will continue to fight for balanced, responsible, and long-term tax and spending reforms to ensure that we get our nation's fiscal house in order, address our budgetary challenges, and fulfill the promises made to our veterans through Medicare and TRICARE.
Unfortunately the SGR formula has proven unwieldy, and Congress has overridden the expected cuts to providers every year except 2002. Clearly a new solution is needed to provide certainty for Medicare providers and the TRICARE system. Doctors have been hamstrung by doubt over reimbursement rates, and patients have had to pay the eventual price in uneven, substandard quality of care. Short-term Congressional legislative patches have only added to the cost of fixing the problem.
To address this unsustainable situation, I recently wrote to Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi urging that we enact reforms that permanently replace the flawed SGR formula with a system that helps control costs. Such a fix will ensure that our veterans have uninterrupted access to care.
I will continue to fight for balanced, responsible, and long-term tax and spending reforms to ensure that we get our nation's fiscal house in order, address our budgetary challenges, and fulfill the promises made to our veterans through Medicare and TRICARE.