Sen. Warner joined six Democrats in voting against the 12-month patch to what is known as the Medicare “doc fix,” the annual adjustment to reimbursement formulas for health providers serving Medicare recipients. Sen. Warner voted against the “patch” because it is a short-sighted solution to the long-term problem of the current Medicare payment system.  

This is the 17^th time Congress has voted to patch the unsustainable formula since 2003, and each of those votes make the long-term solution more expensive without ever resolving the underlying issue. This is in large part due to the fact that previously, no one agreed on how to permanently replace the formula. However, earlier this spring, the Finance Committee announced a bipartisan agreement that would have solved the underlying payment problems facing physicians. The bipartisan proposal also would improve the quality of health care for Americans and hold down Medicare spending increases.

“Instead of taking advantage of this bipartisan solution, Congress chose to kick the can down the road for the 17^th time” Sen. Warner said. “This short-sighted patch avoids the opportunity presented by the Finance Committee to really start to clear our balance sheet and reduce our deficit -- and it actually will end up costing taxpayers more down the road.”

Sen. Warner said he looks forward to continuing to work with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to fully replace what he called this “Medicaid migraine,” with an eye towards adopting a bipartisan, commonsense solution to actually fix the problem in a responsible way.