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WASHINGTON — Many experts have attributed a good portion of the rising national debt to the cost of Medicare throughout the U.S.
Because of this and other factors, the Congressional Budget Office has also noted that within the 10-year window that it gauges spending bills put forth by lawmakers, increases to Medicare spending would only make the deficit worse.
This has resulted in several bills supported by Rep. Larry Bucshon being struck down. Bucshon, a medical doctor by trade, is advocating for higher reimbursement for doctors who treat patients on Medicare.
“I disagree with how they (the CBO) score healthcare. They don’t project future savings,” Bucshon said in a forum hosted by The Hill. “If you scored in the out years (spending on Medicare) prevents chronic liver failure, liver transplants, multiple hospitalizations, outside the ten-year window and it makes people healthier.”
Bucshon argues that these healthier practices will result in fewer visits to the doctor, which will then save the government money in coverage through Medicare in the long run.
“If we score (bills) strictly on the ten-year budget window it costs a bunch of money,” acknowledged Bucshon. “But, we have to have the ability to say “Okay, here are the out-savings to the system”, which I would argue is ten times what the initial cost would be.”
Bucshon is hoping to convince lawmakers to get behind his proposal to increase physician reimbursement throughout Medicare despite the initial high costs projected by the CBO as they continue to hammer out agreements on the last of several spending bills that need to be approved soon.
