The Day Bipartisanship Broke Out in Washington

Letters

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, is co-Chairman of Florida

I am frequently asked why Washington seems incapable of resolving our nation’s biggest challenges. Gridlock and dysfunction have come to define a broken political system. 

But last week something unusual happened—bipartisanship broke out in Washington.

The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved landmark legislation to strengthen Medicare and provide long-term certainty for our nation's seniors. The bipartisan measure, which passed 392-37, represents the most significant structural entitlement reform in nearly two decades.  And more importantly, it will enable doctors to keep their doors open to millions of seniors in Florida and the rest of the nation. 

When it comes to caring for the next generation, the House-passed bill would also reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to more than 473,000 children in Florida alone.  Since its creation in 1997, CHIP has helped American families access comprehensive, secure, and affordable health care coverage. No child should ever be denied access to quality medical care. 

For years, doctors have been forced to live with the uncertainty of looming cuts to the reimbursement payments they receive for treating Medicare patients. Absent congressional action, health care professionals would have been forced to confront a 21 percent cut on April 1. Many doctors have said they would stop taking Medicare patients or leave the profession altogether. The bill passed by the U.S. House, and now awaiting Senate approval, would replace this flawed payment formula with a more stable and fair reimbursement system while providing seniors with continued access to their doctors.

Passage of H.R. 2, which is estimated to save taxpayers nearly $1 billion over the next decade, is a testament to what Washington can accomplish when we work together to solve problems that will improve the lives of others. 

The bill’s key provisions would: 

  • Remove the threat of draconian cuts to Medicare providers and ensure a five-year period of annual fee increases as Medicare transitions to a new system that rewards health outcomes.
  • Establish the first real, structural entitlement reform in nearly 20 years—offsetting all new spending without tax increases.
  • Strengthens Medicare's ability to fight fraud by removing Social Security numbers from beneficiaries' Medicare cards, preventing payments for deceased and ineligible individuals.
  • Preserve and extend CHIP, fully funding the children's health insurance program through September 30, 2017.

As Florida's only member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Medicare program, I am honored to represent more than 200,000 seniors in Sarasota and Manatee counties.  I will continue to fight for a better health care system that does not strain or burden seniors and those at the front lines of our health care delivery system. 

I will also work to ensure that last week’s bipartisan action becomes the norm instead of the exception.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, is co-Chairman of Florida

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