SUNUNU BACKS INSURANCE COMPANIES OVER SENIORS, VOTES AGAINST MEDICARE BILL AGAIN

For Immediate Release

July 9, 2008

Contact: Matthew Miller, 202-485-3123

Hannah August, 202-485-3129

SUNUNU BACKS INSURANCE COMPANIES OVER SENIORS, VOTES AGAINST MEDICARE BILL AGAIN

Ignoring calls from doctors across New Hampshire and the country to reverse his vote, Republican Senator John Sununu voted again today against a bill to prevent steep cuts in Medicare. Without passage of the legislation, which is paid for by ending costly overpayments to private insurance companies and HMOs participating in Medicare, millions of seniors would have been unable to easily access care, as many doctors were expected to stop seeing Medicare patients. The bill was endorsed by the American Medical Association, which has run television ads criticizing Republican Senators for opposing it.  The legislation now heads to the president, who has threatened to veto it.

“Doctors, seniors, troops and their families all urged John Sununu to back this important bill, but he decided to stand with George Bush and the big insurance companies instead,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Sununu had an opportunity to fix his mistake, put aside partisan politics, and stand up for New Hampshire seniors and servicemembers today, but he chose to put the interests of the insurance companies who are funding his campaign first. If the president vetoes this bill as he has said he will, Sununu will have one last chance to do the right thing when it comes back to the Senate, and the people of New Hampshire will be watching.”

On July 1, reimbursement rates to physicians under Medicare and the military health program, TRICARE, were cut by 10.6% under a statutory formula widely regarded as outdated.  Congress has passed legislation reversing scheduled cuts each year since 2003.  The bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, passing 355-59, and passed the Senate today 69-30.  If passed into law, it will improve both mental health access for veterans and Medicare programs for rural seniors.

Sununu Voted For The Second Time In As Many Weeks To Put Insurance Companies And HMOs Over Doctors And Seniors. For the second time in two weeks, Sen. Sununu voted today to obstruct a bill preventing a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement rates to doctors. The bill is paid for by ending costly overpayments to private insurance companies and HMOs participating in Medicare, while improving both mental health access for veterans and Medicare programs for rural seniors.  [Vote 160, 6/26/08; Vote 169, 7/9/08]

Sununu Voted To Cut Medicaid Funding or Against Increased Funding At Least 13 Times.  Since coming to Congress, Sununu has voted to cut or against increased funding for Medicare at least thirteen times.  [Vote 92, 3/22/07; Vote 62, 3/16/06; Vote 363, 12/21/05; Vote 303, 11/3/05; Vote 287, 11/3/05; Vote 291, 11/3/05; Vote 7, 1/7/03; Vote 21, 1/23/03; Vote 89, 3/25/03; Vote 166, 6/5/97; Vote 241, 6/25/97; Vote 343, 7/30/97; Vote 345, 7/30/97]

Sununu Has Received $649,874 From the Insurance Industry.  Since his first run for Congress, Sununu has received at least $649,874 in campaign contributions from the insurance industry.  [Center for Responsive Politics]

American Medical Association Blasted Republicans Who Blocked Bill.  “The physicians of America are outraged that a group of Republican senators followed the direction of the Bush Administration and voted to protect health insurance companies at the expense of America’s seniors, disabled and military families…Thanks to some senators, we stand at the brink of a Medicare meltdown…The Senate must return from their recess and make seniors’ health care their top priority. For doctors, this is not a partisan issue - it's a patient access issue.” [Dr. Nancy Nielsen, President of American Medical Association, 6/27/08]

Without a fix, 60% of doctors would stop seeing new Medicare patients.  A survey shows that 60% of doctors will be forced to restrict the number of new Medicare patients they see if reimbursement rates fall 10.6%, while the nonpartisan expert Medicare Payment Advisory Commission reports that already 30% of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care physician have trouble finding  one.  [AMA, 6/9/08; MedPAC, March 2008]

Sununu votes against seniors to preserve overpayments to HMOs.  According to the nonpartisan, well-respected Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, private insurance companies in the Medicare Advantage program will be paid 113% of the average per-beneficiary cost – an extra $1,000 per patient – and their beneficiaries are healthier, and so less expensive to cover.  [MedPAC, March 2008; MedPAC, June 2007]

Sununu Voted to Jeopardize Access to Doctors for Family Members of Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The military health care system, TRICARE, is statutorily linked to Medicare, so cuts in Medicare also impact physicians serving active duty military service members and their families. There are currently 29,684 TRICARE patients in New Hampshire. [National Guard Association of the United States, 3/28/08; American Medical Association]

Vote could have cost New Hampshire doctors $40 million in the first year and a half. The American Medical Association says that the Medicare payment cuts for physician services will cost New Hampshire physicians $40 million from July 2008 to December 2009 alone. [American Medical Association]