Democrats Reject Fiscally Responsible “Doc Fix”
Senator McConnell just asked for unanimous consent to pass a 30-day extension of expired programs, including the Medicare “doc fix,” as part of Senator Grassley’s PAID FOR legislation (S. 3421). The legislation would extend unemployment benefits, the Medicare “doc fix,” and other provisions WITHOUT raising the federal budget deficit – the legislation is fully paid for by unspent stimulus funds.
Unfortunately, Majority Leader Reid rejected this unanimous consent request for a paid-for extension of the Medicare “doc fix.” This timing is curious, as the President attempted to blame Republicans over the weekend for allowing Medicare physician payment provisions to lapse. It’s also interesting that the majority said they wanted a longer-term solution to the Medicare “doc fix” – in that case, Leader Reid might want to support the Thune Republican substitute amendment, which includes a “doc fix” extension one year longer than the Democrat extenders legislation (H.R. 4213), and reduces the deficit by $55 billion, as opposed to the approximately $80 billion increase in the deficit under the Democrat proposal.
We will keep you posted as debate on the extenders legislation continues this week.