From the Office of Rep. Bill Sali

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Bill Sali again voted today to protect thousands of Idaho seniors from dramatic cuts to a successful Medicare program that offers greater flexibility for seniors to make their own healthcare decisions.

Sali voted to uphold President Bush’s long-expected veto of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. While the bill prevents short-term cuts in Medicare reimbursements for doctors, it cuts $50 billion out of Medicare Advantage and does nothing to strengthen the Medicare program in the long term including far more drastic cuts scheduled for 2010. Medicare Advantage funding is used by around 2 million seniors across the country, including many in Idaho, to buy down premiums and eliminate co-pays, provide enhanced benefits such as vision and dental benefits and provide access to affordable prescription drugs. Half of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries report incomes of $20,000 or less.

“I am disappointed that Congress not only gutted the popular Medicare Advantage program but also once again missed a vital opportunity to enact meaningful legislation to improve Medicare and prevent doctors from taking bigger cuts in the near future. Even so, it would have been very easy for Congress to take up a bill that protects both doctors and their patients. Instead, Congress presented Members with a vote that pitted doctors against seniors, a dichotomy that was never inevitable.

“This bill kicks down the road some inevitable and difficult choices. The bill does not improve Medicare, does not prevent the huge, looming financial crisis that Medicare will face in the near future, and targets a program popular with rural and lower-income seniors. If this bill does anything, it sends the message that Congress is not interested in making tough decisions for the long-term and will force votes enticing Members to support policies that favor government programs at the expense of private choice and freedom.

“Our seniors deserve better than this. Our doctors deserve better than this. Unfortunately, this Congress has once again proven that it is only capable of doing what is easy instead of what is right,” Sali concluded.

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