WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) on Thursday said that the administration’s latest proposed drug rule for Medicare Part B could disrupt care and quality of life for Medicare patients, or “ration” care as Roberts predicted during the initial debate on the Affordable Care Act.
Speaking at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on mental health, Roberts said, “When this committee was debating the Affordable Care Act, I was concerned about several provisions that I believed would decrease individual choice and open the door to government rationing of health care. I’m sorry to say that with this latest proposal from CMMI, my fears are coming home to roost.”
For video of the Senator’s remarks at the here go here.
Last month, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) proposed changes to how the government pays for prescription drugs under Medicare Part B. The proposal would reduce reimbursements on new medications and could limit access to others that the administration does not deem “high value.” This could result in patients being switched to products that are less effective or have more side effects. Over 300 organizations are asking that this rule be withdrawn. In addition, all Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee sent a letter to CMS this week requesting the agency withdraw this proposal.
In 2014, Roberts spoke on the Senate floor warning of the dangers of the government’s expanded authorities over healthcare as a result of Obamacare. He said, “Let me start with something called the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Yep, another fancy big government name. And the center has an enormous budget to match – aimed at finding innovative ways to reform payment and the delivery of health care.
“Sounds good, but, what this really means is that the ‘Innovation Center’ can now use taxpayer dollars to invest in ways to reduce patient access to care. Let me say that again: the government can now use taxpayer dollars to invest in ways to reduce patient access to care. It gives the government new powers to cut payments to Medicare beneficiaries with the goal to reduce program expenditures. However, the reality is they will reduce patients’ ability to access the care they want and need. All hidden under the cloak of ‘innovation.’”
In 2014, Senator Roberts introduced legislation in response to this called the Four Rationers Repeal Act, which would repeal CMMI, and three other rationing bodies.
“I’ve been talking about the four rationers for a long time and what it means to patients,” Roberts said. “What really scares me, as I watch all the other warnings and broken promises come true, is what is going to happen to Kansans back home when the warnings about the four rationers come true. Access to quality care will be a thing of the past for Americans.”