Medicare
How do you propose to correct the Medicare physician reimbursement rate formula?
| Bush | Edwards | Gephardt | Kerry |
| Kucinich | Lieberman | Sharpton |
Edwards: The physician reimbursement rate must be appropriate to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to high-quality services. I have supported efforts to improve the reimbursement rate to accurately reflect medical inflation and cost increases associated with medical care.
Gephardt: I have said throughout my career that Medicare is one of the best programs ever enacted in this country. But Medicare can always be better, and it has to be modernized -- particularly the Medicare reimbursement system. As a member of Congress, I have already introduced legislation that seeks to increase Medicare reimbursements for areas that fall below the national average.
As president, I will work to reform the current Medicare reimbursement system to ensure fairness for every American and a reasonable system to make sure practices can remain open, hospitals can be adequately staffed, and access to health care will not be reduced simply because the reimbursement formula is not working.
Many of the problems with the Medicare reimbursement system were enacted in the name of balancing the budget. I disagreed with many members of my own party and voted against the 1997 Balanced Budget Act that cut $200 billion from Medicare in fewer than five years. The 1997 BBA has been devastating to providers, cutting Medicare provider payments so deeply that Republicans and Democrats alike have voted three times to restore funding. The results of the 1997 BBA prove that there is nothing more shortsighted than trying to balance the budget by cutting Medicare.
As president, I will look for a way to permanently fix the physician reimbursement formula so that doctors don't have to fight every year for the funding they need to continue serving our Medicare population.
Kerry: That the methodology for calculating the Medicare physician reimbursement rate is flawed is widely recognized. Having a negative update at a time of rampant medical inflation clearly compromises physicians' ability to provide access to quality health services for the Medicare population.
Kucinich: Medicare should be transformed into a universal, single-payer system. Physician reimbursement would be determined by negotiation with representative physician organizations, ensuring that physicians would cover their costs and receive a fair profit, while taxpayers are ensured that they are receiving value for their healthcare investment.
Lieberman: Reasonable physician compensation is an important aspect of ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries have access to high-quality care.
As president, I would convene a panel of experts to review the recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. I would ask the panel to come up with proposals for a long-term fix of problems with Medicare physician reimbursements.
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