Washington, D.C. - Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02) and Jennifer Dunn (WA-08) spearheaded a bipartisan effort to send a letter today to the Administration, expressing serious concerns about a reduction in physician reimbursement rates next year.  Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare reimbursement rates would drop by 5.4 percent nationwide.  

“Reimbursement rates for our physicians are already inadequate and unjust.  The additional reductions pour salt in the wound,” Larsen said.  “If our physicians keep taking hits like this they won’t be able to survive.”

Larsen added, “Washington state seniors and physicians are getting a raw deal.”

Medicare reimbursement rates in Washington state already fall victim to an unintentionally unfair reimbursement rate formula.  The formula was created in 1997 through the Medicare+Choice program after Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.   

Due to the insufficient rates, healthcare providers throughout Larsen’s district cannot afford to see new Medicare patients, forcing seniors to turn elsewhere for coverage -- if they are fortunate enough to have that option.

One physician in Mount Vernon wrote to Larsen, “As reimbursement rates decline, my income declines, while overhead and bills at home increase.  This can’t last long.  I have chosen to stay for now because of my love for Washington and my current patients, but something must change.”

Larsen explained in the letter sent today to Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, “We are concerned that the formula will unintentionally punish those who provide care to our most vulnerable seniors, especially those living in rural areas.  Many of our constituents do not have access to services provided through the Medicare+Choice program.”

For example, one patient in Skagit County told Larsen, “Because Medicare does not pay adequately for care, doctors are not as willing to see new Medicare patients or are leaving our community to practice in cities north and south of our county.  It is very difficult for seniors to travel outside of the community to get medical care.”

This of course is detrimental for seniors who need health care.  A 71-year-old woman in Anacortes explained, “My husband and I are very concerned that after years of hard work and responsible planning, we may not have adequate medical coverage at the time of our lives when we are on fixed incomes.”

A constituent in Stanwood poignantly wrote, “Recent events have caused a dramatic shift in our national priorities, and our nation’s leaders are rightly focused on responding to those needs.  But as we turn our attention to other challenges, I hope Congress will find a permanent and fair solution to Medicare.”

Counties throughout the entire Second Congressional district are affected by the low rates.  A woman in Bellingham plainly laid it out, “The current situation makes it impossible for many of us to afford any medical treatment.”

In hopes that the situation does not worsen, an Army veteran in Custer who wants to continue seeing his regular physician, wrote, “They are our friends, as well as our Doctors and Nurses.”  This was shortly after Lynden Family Medicine announced they could no longer accept new Medicare patients and warned that, if the situation worsens, they may have to stop seeing current patients as well.

Larsen commented, “I wish I had good news to deliver.  All I can offer is my assurance that I will do everything within my power to ensure this inequity is addressed.” 

Until the issue is permanently solved, the Washington state delegation suggested correcting formulaic errors by using actual expenditures instead of estimates and fixing the assumptions in physician productivity rather than assume physicians become 1.4 percent more efficient each year.

Larsen and Dunn also introduced the Medicare Equity and Access Act of 2001 earlier this year.  Larsen is a member of the Democratic Health and Medicare Task Force.