WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Charles Schumer called on Congress to reject legislation that would cut Medicare funding for Upstate NY hospital clinics by $494 million over the next ten years. The plan under consideration would severely restrict patient access to health care services throughout the state. On December 13th, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, which included extremely damaging cuts to hospitals, including a significant Medicare hospital outpatient payment cut. The House passed bill would cut payments for hospital outpatient clinic evaluation and management (E&M) services – among the most common outpatient services clinics provide – by just under $1 billion statewide over 10 years. The legislation is currently being considered by a conference committee of House and Senate members, before the bill is finalized and voted on again by both chambers and sent to the President. Schumer urged the conference committee members to remove the provision that could be devastating to upstate hospitals throughout the state.

“Hospitals in rural and urban areas across the state bend over backwards to meet the health care needs of Upstate New York,” said Schumer. “These cuts would pull the rug right out from underneath them, and I will do all I can to beat it back. These Medicare funds help our doctors and nurses provide top notch care from the Hudson Valley to the North Country all the way to Western New York. We don't need to rob Peter to pay Paul to ensure that providers are paid appropriately by Medicare. I strongly urge my friends in the House and Senate to abandon these draconian cuts and protect Upstate New York’s hospitals.”

The House-passed bill would, among other provisions, temporarily fix Medicare's physician payment Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, but it would do so by cutting payments for hospital outpatient clinic evaluation and management (E&M) services by $6.8 billion nationwide. The cuts in New York, which would take effect immediately, would total $988 million across the state in the next decade. The House proposal uses these funds to prevent a 27.4% cut in the Medicare physician reimbursement rate, replacing it with a 1% payment increase for 2012 and 2013. Rather than financing a short-term solution by severely cutting Medicare funding from New York hospitals, Schumer is urging his colleagues in the House and Senate to permanently fix the Sustainable Growth Formula so that seniors can continue to rely on Medicare and their physicians. Congress has provided temporary relief from the SGR cuts since 2002, but a long-term solution is critical.