WASHINGTON — Today, members on both sides of the aisle of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee introduced four bills to improve the Medicare Advantage (MA) program for seniors. The four bipartisan bills are: H.R. 2506, the Seniors’ Health Care Plan Protection Act of 2015, introduced by Ways and Means members Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement during a hearing on ideas to improve competition in the Medicare program. "Welcome to today's hearing on improving competition within the important Medicare program. This is the first in a series of hearings this summer and fall to identify solutions to saving… Read more

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, “Improving Competition in Medicare: Removing Moratoria and Expanding Access.” The hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M.  Oral testimony at… Read more

WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the following statement in response to Senate passage of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, legislation permanently repealing the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR).  "Years of hard work have finally paid off. Medicare is now on sounder footing, and our seniors have… Read more

WASHINGTON — Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA) released the following statement after the Senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which included an extension of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs through September 30, 2017. The MIECHV programs fall under the jurisdiction of… Read more

WASHINGTON — Today, Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement during a hearing on the individual and employer mandates and associated penalties in the president's health care law. "With the successful replacement of the flawed formula for paying local doctors under Medicare nearly complete, I want to welcome… Read more

Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the individual and employer mandates and associated penalties in the President’s health care law. The hearing will take place immediately following a brief Subcommittee organizational meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, in Room B-318 of the… Read more

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives today voted to permanently fix the broken Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The bipartisan plan fixes the long-standing problem of how doctors get paid for treating the 53 million Americans who depend on Medicare. “Congress has averted a continuation of a national health-care crisis,” said Ways and Means Health Subcommittee… Read more

WASHINGTON — Upon passage of H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement: "This is a firm step toward patient-centered health care. After years of manufactured crises, this bill will give doctors the certainty they need and seniors the security they deserve. We have a lot more work to do to save… Read more

Washington Examiner op-ed   Medicare is going broke, but this week we have a chance to start fixing it. And we can do it—with bipartisan support—by repealing a clumsy payment system that has threatened seniors' access to care and vexed Congress for nearly two decades. Here's the problem: In 1997, Congress tried to put a lid on Medicare's costs by capping doctor payments with a… Read more