Joseph Pitts

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 515, I call up the bill (H.R. 4015) to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate and improve Medicare payments for physicians and other professionals, and for other purposes to amend section 530D of title 28, United States Code, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 4015.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, is the formula through which Medicare reimburses physicians. Since 2003, Congress has voted 17 times for temporary patches, or ``doc fixes,'' to avert ever larger cuts to providers. The uncertainty of the SGR threatens doctors' ability to continue practicing medicine and accepting Medicare patients and endangers seniors' access to care. Absent congressional action, providers face a 24 percent cut on April 1, 2014. To stave off this cut, we can either pass another ``patch'' and kick the can down the road again, or we can repeal this flawed formula for good. Today's bill, H.R. 4015, firmly repeals the SGR and replaces it with payment reform policy that has been agreed upon by the bipartisan leaders of the Energy and Commerce, the Ways and Means, and Senate Finance Committees. As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, I have been working for the past 3 years on legislation to permanently repeal the SGR, and I am very pleased that on February 6, 2014, we reached a bipartisan, bicameral agreement, embodied in today's legislation. Unfortunately, since then, Senate Majority Leader Reid has refused to negotiate with us on how to pay for this package. So we have brought forward H.R. 4015, which is fully paid for by delaying implementation of the individual mandate--a policy supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The bill enjoys more than 100 cosponsors and the support of over 700 national and State provider and stakeholder groups. So I urge all of my colleagues to vote for H.R. 4015 to ensure that our seniors have access to the doctors they know and trust. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey), one of the cochairs of the Doctors Caucus, who has contributed a great deal to accomplish this bipartisan agreement.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire about how much time remains on each side?

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), a valuable member of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Heck), another member of the Doctors Caucus.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the chief architects of this bill.

Mr. PITTS. I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record a letter from the Texas Medical Association in support of this legislation. Texas Medical Association, Austin, TX, March 13, 2014. Hon. Michael C. Burgess, MD, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative Burgess: On behalf of the 47,000-plus physician and medical student members of the Texas Medical Association, I am writing to reiterate our strong support for the work you have done to effectuate the repeal of Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. In conjunction with your Texas colleague, Kevin Brady, you have gotten closer to solving this challenging issue than ever before. And you have done so with the support of every member of the Texas delegation, both Democratic and Republican, on the Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees. Perhaps more than anyone in Congress, you understand the frustration and anxiety that the ongoing SGR uncertainty creates for practicing physicians. You have worked tirelessly to craft a piece of legislation that not only repeals the SGR immediately, but also guarantees positive updates for physicians for five years, removes potential causes of liability against physicians, and eliminates some unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that prevents physicians from concentrating on patient care. We especially appreciate your ongoing consultation and dialogue with TMA and Texas physicians throughout this process. As you know well, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act of 2014 has made it this far because of a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the need to replace the SGR. We are committed to helping you finish the task. Sincerely, Stephen L. Brotherton, MD, President. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), another member of the Doctors Caucus.

Mr. PITTS. May I inquire of the time remaining.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), another cochair of the Doctors Caucus.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers), who is another important member of the Health Subcommittee.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the minority how many speakers they have left?

Mr. PITTS. We have one more speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. At this time then, Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas, Dr. Burgess, the prime sponsor of this legislation, who has worked tirelessly to achieve this day.

Mr. PITTS. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order against the motion to recommit.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my point of order and claim the time in opposition to the motion.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, to begin with, I would just like to acknowledge all the good work on both sides of the aisle in reaching the bipartisan policy agreement in the SGR, and especially want to thank our staff, Clay Alspach and Robert Horne and Chris Pope, and everyone on both sides of the aisle and their staff, for all the good work. Mr. Speaker, this bill before us presents each and every Member of this body a simple choice: Do we patch Medicare, or do we fix it? Do we choose to fight for the Medicare promise that this country has made to every American, or do we vote against it? My friends, I am voting today to keep the Medicare promise to Americans. We must not let another opportunity to save Medicare for our seniors fall by the wayside. If Washington is broken, today is an opportunity to fix it. The bill before us is bipartisan, and the pay-for is one President Obama has used himself many times in the past. My colleagues, did you scream hypocrisy when President Obama delayed the mandate for special interests here in D.C.? Then why would you scream hypocrisy now? The time for political games is over. It is time for Members of this body to choose. Are you on the side of seniors in your district that depend on Medicare, or are you against them? Are you on the side of younger Americans who keep telling us they are struggling under an ObamaCare plan that forces them to choose between groceries and health care? Are you for saving Medicare, or will you vote to let it go bankrupt? What kind of country are we living in when our own government has reduced the American Dream to a choice between health care and groceries? This motion to recommit embraces the tired gimmicks of yesterday that the public has grown to distrust. You have a clear choice. You either vote ``no'' and stand up for what is right, to give our seniors the peace of mind they deserve, or you can vote ``yes'' on this motion to recommit and demonstrate to the American public that political games are more important to you than their health and welfare. I, for one, will be voting with seniors this morning, and I would encourage all of my colleagues to do the same. Vote ``no'' on the motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the White House has declared this week National Latino Enrollment Week, just five weeks short of the delayed deadline for purchasing insurance. Healthcare.gov was a mess at its rollout, but the Hispanic website was even less functional. Once it finally opened for business, the text was riddled with basic grammar errors, as if the designers were using Google translate to build the site. Now, Spanish-speaking Americans have the pleasure of finding out just how costly coverage in the Obamacare exchanges is. In Pennsylvania, premiums in the individual market will run about 39 percent more than what they were previously. Since Hispanic Americans are on average younger than the general population, they will face an even greater premium hike. There are plenty of ways to expand access to insurance without forcing people into an expensive, government-dictated marketplace. Obamacare is hurting many Americans, but its poor treatment of Hispanic Americans is notable. We can do better.

Mr. PITTS

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3362.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 455, I call up the bill (H.R. 3362) to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require transparency in the operation of American Health Benefit Exchanges, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3362, the Exchange Information Disclosure Act. This bill is fundamentally about transparency. Since healthcare.gov's disastrous launch, the public has received confusing and conflicting information about the site's functionality and the number of individuals actually able to purchase insurance through the Web site. States trying to enroll individuals in Medicaid and insurance companies trying to sign people up for private insurance have received incomplete and inaccurate applications from the Web site. H.R. 3362 would require the Secretary of HHS to provide a State-by- State breakdown of the number of unique Web site visits, the number of individuals who create an account, the number of individuals who select a qualified health plan, and the number of individuals who enrolled in a qualified health plan or Medicaid. The report must also describe the problems Americans are encountering with the Web site and how HHS is addressing them. The American people have a right to firm data and an accurate picture of the exchanges. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.