After President Joe Biden (D) requested billions in emergency funding from Congress – Including $24 billion to be sent to the Ukraine war effort, and only $4 billion for the border – Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) has responded with an “emphatic and unwavering no!” and called the president's request “tone deaf” and “out-of-touch.”
“Once again, President Biden’s America-last approach to governing is completely tone-deaf and out-of-touch with the harsh economic realities facing American families,” said Congressman Bilirakis.
He would go on to mention that there has been a “lack of transparency” regarding the funding that has been sent to the Ukrainians.
“We cannot keep fueling inflation by spending money we don’t have to fund an endless war in Europe while ignoring national security threats here at home. There has been a complete and utter lack of transparency and accountability for the billions of American tax dollars, supplies and equipment that have already been sent to Ukraine,” stated Rep. Bilirakis. “There is also no clear plan for establishing what constitutes a successful resolution to this conflict. As far as I’m concerned, the answer to the President’s most recent request is an emphatic and unwavering no!”
Moreover, Bilirakis reacted to the notion that Medicare reimbursement cuts could threaten medical practices and doctors nationwide.
For two decades, physicians have seen cuts to their reimbursements. While the cost of running a practice, after adjusting for inflation, has increased by nearly half since 2001, reimbursements have been slashed by 26%. Because running a practice continues to get more expensive an increasing number of physicians are being forced to reduce their staffs and, in extreme cases, quit Medicare altogether.
Bilirakis has spoken out against the cuts, and condemned the repeated cuts that Medicare providers deal with. "Continued year over year cuts to Medicare providers jeopardizes seniors' continued access to quality care," said the Florida Congressman.
"Further reductions will only serve to accelerate healthcare consolidation - whereby limiting patient choice and access, exacerbating healthcare inequities and a continued rise in overall healthcare costs." Bilirakis continued, "We need patient-centered reforms that ensure continued access to quality care for all Americans."
The issue may present complications for Florida residents, the state is home to the second-largest population of Medicare beneficiaries in the country – more than 4.8 million a large portion of them being seniors, who could lose access to quality physician care.
Currently, there is a bill in the US Congress called H.R. 2474, the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act. This bipartisan measure would apply a permanent inflation-based adjustment to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) conversion factor, the formula that determines how doctors get reimbursed for treating patients with Medicare. It would allow the MPFS to keep pace with the rising costs of operating practice and ideally prevent more physicians from walking away from Medicare.
