House Bill to Press for One-Year SGR Delay
Pallone asked how Rep. Burgess would pay for the extension and suggested that the large "pay for" could be covered by raiding the funding for overseas contingency operations (OCO), which are the discretionary funds used for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The idea is popular with groups like the American Medical Association and has gained some traction in Congress although several Republican members of the committee made it clear that they would not support such a move.
"You're not going to use OCO money," stated John Shimkus (R-IL). "That's not going to happen."
Pallone said his Republican colleagues could forget trying to take funding away from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to fund the SGR delay. "It's useless politically to try to do that." He added that taking funding away from other parts of the healthcare system also isn't the answer. "The healthcare system is in crisis and other healthcare providers share the same problems as physicians."
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Lance (7/19/2012 at 9:29 AM)
Gee, what else is new? They've been doing this "delay" for years...unitl politicians do thier jobs instead of constantly run for election, this will never be addressed.