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During the 10 years I have served in the United States Congress, we have voted to delay the reduction of physician fees in each calendar year since 2003 and I have supported this delay each time. 
On June 6, 2008, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus introduced a H.R.6331 to delay the scheduled 10.1 percent cut from taking effect for 18 months. However, this bill also contained an unnecessary expansion of certain programs, while simultaneously making inappropriate cuts to programs to pay for the physician update.
When the Senate reconsidered H.R.6331 on July 9, 2008, I voted in support of it. The President vetoed the bill and it was sent back to Congress for an override vote, which was successful. H.R.6331 became public law on July 15, 2008. Although I was concerned about the impact of the cuts to Medicare Advantage and the impact on seniors in those plans, the immediate need to stop the 10 percent cut in physician payments proved to be too great, and I chose to vote to ensure that doctors were properly compensated and beneficiaries would still have access to care.
While H.R.6331 delayed physician payment cuts, this temporary fix is set to expire on January 1, 2010, with physicians once again facing cuts of 21 percent in Medicare payments.
The ideal solution would be a permanent fix so that we can avoid these types of partisan games every year. In addition, I will always support giving our senior citizens better choices and better access to the healthcare they need.
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