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Pelosi Statement on Rewarding Quality, Not Quantity in Medicare Payments

October 14, 2016

Contact: Drew Hammill/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

San Francisco – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on today’s announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services has finalized a new, streamlined payment system for Medicare to reward clinicians for quality care, implementing key provisions included in the bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015:

“Thanks to the Department of Health and Human Services and the leadership of Secretary Burwell, clinicians providing quality care to Americans enrolled in Medicare will now have the resources and flexibility needed to provide the high-quality, patient-focused health care that Americans deserve.

“This bipartisan victory, which Speaker Boehner and I worked together to enact, replaces the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate with the bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Quality Payment Program. With this effort, we are building on the progress of the Affordable Care Act to deliver better care to Medicare beneficiaries while rewarding clinicians for providing value, not volume-based care.

“Thanks to the ACA, we are making monumental progress toward ensuring that heath care is a right, not a privilege, for all Americans. The ACA is working. With more than 20 million previously-uninsured Americans now receiving quality coverage, House Democrats will continue to push back against this Republican Congress’ attempts to turn back the clock on progress and strip health care from millions of hard-working American families.”

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Issues:Health Care