McConnell Puts Insurance Companies Ahead Of Seniors

The DSCC recently issued this press release:

McConnell And Bush: Putting Insurance Companies Ahead Of Seniors To The Bitter End
As Senate rebuffs Bush veto, McConnell continues to stand by Medicare cuts

Today, as both the United States House and Senate voted by large bi-partisan margins to override George Bush’s veto of a bill preventing steep cuts to Medicare, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stood by the president and the insurance companies and voted to sustain the veto. The bill Bush vetoed and McConnell voted against will prevent steep cuts in Medicare and will improve mental health access for both veterans and seniors and strengthen Medicare programs for rural seniors. It is paid for by ending costly overpayments to private insurance companies and HMOs participating in Medicare. Without passage of the legislation, millions of seniors would have been unable to easily access care as many doctors were expected to stop seeing Medicare patients.

“If McConnell got his way and Bush’s veto stood, doctors, seniors, troops and their families all would have faced devastating effects,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Luckily other legislators stood up for Kentucky’s seniors and servicemembers today, but it’s a shame their own senator refused to fight on their behalf. Unfortunately for Mitch McConnell, the insurance companies may have filled his campaign coffers with cash, but they won’t be able to fill the voting booths for him this fall.”

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under Medicare and the military health program, TRICARE, were cut by 10.6% under a statutory formula widely regarded as outdated.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 last week 69-30. Both chambers of Congress voted to override Bush’s veto today, the House by 383-41 and the Senate by 70-26.

McConnell Voted For The Third Time In As Many Weeks To Put Insurance Companies And HMOs Over Doctors And Seniors. For the third time in two weeks, Sen. McConnell today voted against 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; Vote 177, 7/15/08]

McConnell Voted Against Medicare Funding At Least 16 Times. Since 1995, McConnell has voted to cut or against Medicare funding at least sixteen times. [Vote 173, 5/22/95; Vote 232, 5/25/95; Vote 296, 6/29/95; Vote 499, 10/26/95; Vote 524, 10/27/95; Vote 584, 11/17/95; Vote 159, 6/13/96; Vote 130, 6/25/97; Vote 7, 1/7/03; Vote 21, 1/23/03; Vote 89, 3/25/03; Vote 291, 11/3/05; Vote 303, 11/3/05; Vote 363, 12/21/05; Boston Globe, 12/22/05; Vote 62, 3/16/06; Vote 92, 3/22/07; AP, 3/23/07]

McConnell Has Received $817,757 From the Insurance Industry. Since his first run for Congress, McConnell has received at least $817,757 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]

McConnell 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]

McConnell 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 159,979 TRICARE patients in Kentucky. [National Guard Association of the United States, 3/28/08; American Medical Association]