Senate drops the ball

TENS OF MILLIONS of America's seniors are living longer and healthier lives because of health care coverage provided through Medicare. As the state with the third highest senior population in the United States, more than 2 million Pennsylvania seniors depend on Medicare.

In large part, Medicare has been so successful in ensuring that seniors get the health care they need because of near universal participation by doctors; 96 percent of American doctors accept Medicare coverage, making it a critical link in the connection between seniors and quality, affordable health care.

With millions of baby boomers entering Medicare over the next 15 years, we have to take steps to protect health care for all our seniors, short and long term.

We must ensure fair and adequate payment to doctors and health care providers.

We must demand improved quality, fiscal responsibility, and cost containment measures.

And, we must dramatically increase efficiency and the use of health information technology, saving both untold lives and billions of dollars. This is the smart, forward-thinking course to protect and strengthen Medicare.

And it is a sharp contrast to many of the choices made by the Bush administration over the past seven years.

The Bush administration put the insurance industry before seniors, by increased payments in billions of dollars to the insurance industry, while putting into place a series of cuts to doctors and hospitals. These cuts come at a time of increasing costs to our nation's health care providers, and jeopardize access to lifesaving health services.

On July 1 the latest cut in physicians' fees, a cut of 10.6 percent, went into effect.

A cut of this magnitude could put Pennsylvania doctors in the untenable position of turning away seniors who depend on their care.

Patients may well find themselves unable to continue with doctors they know and trust, and for many seniors it will be harder to find doctors willing to accept Medicare payments.

We absolutely cannot let seniors lose access to the medical care they need and deserve.

On June 24, the U.S. House passed legislation to prevent the impending physician fee cut. Against the wishes of the Bush administration and the Republican leadership in Congress, this bill received an overwhelming vote of 355-59 in the House, including the support of 17 of the 19-member Pennsylvania House delegation.

This bill, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, protects seniors' access to their doctors, improves access to other vital health services, and increases the use of health information technologies to reduce errors and save lives.

The next step for this bill was Senate passage; on June 26 it went to the Senate floor for a vote.

Despite a groundswell of public support and the tight timeline, Senate Republicans blocked this bill. The bill fell just one vote short of passage, with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey voting for the bill, and Sen. Arlen Specter voting against it.

The Senate's failure to pass this bill before the July 1 deadline is both an outrage and an incredible disappointment. Senate Republicans choose to play partisan politics, jeopardizing the health care of more than 44 million American seniors.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pledged to bring this legislation back as soon as possible for a vote.

When this bill comes back to the Senate for a vote, more than 2 million Pennsylvania seniors and their families will be watching and counting on their senators to do the right thing and protect their health care. *

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz represents the 13th District of Pennsylvania.