Barack Obama has released a strong statement on the Medicare bill that the U.S. Senate passed yesterday. John McCain opposed the bill but did not show up to vote against it.
Obama’s statement begins by briefly explaining why he is right and McCain is wrong:
“Today, the U.S. Senate took a major step forward in addressing the needs of seniors and military families all across this nation. At a time when doctors are facing double digit increases in the costs of providing care, I am proud to have joined with my colleagues to stop a devastating cut in physician reimbursement that would have caused them to shut the door to many Medicare and Tricare beneficiaries. John McCain has said that he would have opposed this bill, demonstrating yet again that he’s more than willing to put the interests of the health insurance industry over our nation’s 44 million seniors and 9 million uniformed service members,” said Senator Barack Obama.
The release then cites numbers calculated by the American Medical Association on the impact of this bill in 19 states (which just happen to be states contested in the presidential race). For each state, five numbers are given:
-the dollar amount in Medicare payments that would have been lost by December 2009 if the bill had not passed
-the average dollar amount each physician would have lost in reimbursements
-the number of employees who would have been affected
-the number of Medicare patients who would have been affected
-the number of TRICARE patients who would have been affected
For instance,
Iowa:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $110 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $17,000
People Affected: 27,095 employees,
468,637 Medicare patients
41,891 TRICARE patients
The format makes it quick and easy for a newspaper editor or broadcast news producer in any of these 19 states to cast this story in a favorable light for Obama and an unfavorable light for McCain.
The full text of the press release is after the jump.
July 9, 2008
Statement of Barack Obama on Passage of Medicare Bill
“Today, the U.S. Senate took a major step forward in addressing the needs of seniors and military families all across this nation. At a time when doctors are facing double digit increases in the costs of providing care, I am proud to have joined with my colleagues to stop a devastating cut in physician reimbursement that would have caused them to shut the door to many Medicare and Tricare beneficiaries. John McCain has said that he would have opposed this bill, demonstrating yet again that he’s more than willing to put the interests of the health insurance industry over our nation’s 44 million seniors and 9 million uniformed service members,” said Senator Barack Obama.
Without today’s legislation doctors and patients across the country would have suffered tremendously. A state-by-state breakdown follows of what would have happened without passage of today’s legislation:
Alaska:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $20 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $9,000
People Affected: 7,585 employees,
49,677 Medicare patients
88,451 TRICARE patientsArizona:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $220 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $16,000
People Affected: 60,609 employees,
757,781 Medicare patients
209,013 TRICARE patientsColorado:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $110 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $8,000
People Affected: 44,023 employees,
498,450 Medicare patients
214,738TRICARE patientsGeorgia:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $330 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $17,000
People Affected: 84,494 employees,
1,007,857 Medicare patients
441,082 TRICARE patientsFlorida:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $1.3 billion
Average Physician’s Loss: $25,000
People Affected: 212,201 employees,
2,930,058 Medicare patients
691,487 TRICARE patientsIndiana:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $260 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $19,000
People Affected: 64,908 employees,
865,792 Medicare patients
90,439 TRICARE patientsIowa:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $110 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $17,000
People Affected: 27,095 employees,
468,637 Medicare patients
41,891 TRICARE patientsMichigan:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $540 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $21,000
People Affected: 92,826 employees,
1,429,304 Medicare patients
96,506 TRICARE patientsMissouri:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $240 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $17,000
People Affected: 53,769 employees,
869,941 Medicare patients
153,311 TRICARE patientsMontana:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $30 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $13,000
People Affected: 7,257 employees,
143,666 Medicare patients
32,825 TRICARE patientsNevada:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $80 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $16,000
People Affected: 23,172 employees,
280,738 Medicare patients
99,641 TRICARE patientsNew Hampshire:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $40 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $12,000
People Affected: 14,423 employees,
175,128 Medicare patients
29,684 TRICARE patientsNew Mexico:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $50 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $10,000
People Affected: 16,916 employees,
254,051 Medicare patients
85,440 TRICARE patientsNorth Carolina:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $380 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $18,000
People Affected: 85,165 employees,
1,248,392 Medicare patients
497,645 TRICARE patientsNorth Dakota:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $30 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $15,000
People Affected: 7,055 employees,
98,257 Medicare patients
31,664 TRICARE patientsOhio:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $490 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $16,000
People Affected: 115,272 employees,
1,670,196 Medicare patients
160,415 TRICARE patientsPennsylvania:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $540 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $15,000
People Affected: 142,006 employees,
2,005,670 Medicare patients
161,653 TRICARE patientsVirginia:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $230 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $16,000
People Affected: 72,763 employees,
946,194 Medicare patients
758,868 TRICARE patientsWisconsin:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $190 million
Average Physician’s Loss: $13,000
People Affected: 59,886 employees,
791,802 Medicare patients
66,626 TRICARE patientsSource: [American Medical Association, Accessed 7/9/08]
1 Comment
Medicare
I am grateful that Senator Kennedy was able to return to the Senate for this vote. The Doctor’s will not receive a 10% pay cut from Medicare.
I applaud Senator Kennedy. Despite daily cancer treatments for a brain tumor, he cared enough to vote.
I have spoken with several Doctors over the that are strongly considering closing their practice to Medicare recipients.
They all are frustrated by the high number of Medicare denials, the slow reimbursements and the amount of time the office staff must spend on Medicare paperwork.
How would we respond to receiving a 10% pay cut? With the steadily sky rocketing prices I don’t know too many of us that could afford it. I know I can’t!
Judy
judy Thu 10 Jul 4:42 PM