08-20-21  

Contact: Carter MacLeod  

Phone: 202-225-5506  

Carter.MacLeod@mail.house.gov   

 

Rep. Ron Kind Helps Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Medicare Reimbursement for Rural Health Care Providers Across Wisconsin  

     

La Crosse, WI – Today, Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) helped introduce the bipartisan Keep Physicians Serving Patients Act to improve flawed Medicare reimbursement formulas that harm rural health care providers. This bill would adjust the geographic practice cost index (GPCI) to accurately reflect the cost of labor and practice expenses in rural regions. The current GPCI formula underestimates labor and practice costs in rural areas and results in lower Medicare payments to rural physicians compared to their urban counterparts.  

 

The bill is co-led by Reps. Cindy Axne (D-IA)Darin LaHood (R-IL)Terri Sewell (D-AL), and Adrian Smith (R-NE) 

 

“Our physicians and health systems in rural Wisconsin provide high-quality care, but the flawed Medicare reimbursement formula is putting our providers at a disadvantage and harming rural health systems,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “I’m proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work to fix the GPCI formula and give our rural communities a fair shake when it comes to Medicare reimbursement.”  

 

Rep. Kind is the co-chair of the House Rural Health Care Coalition and serves on the Subcommittee on Health for the Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful – and the oldest – committee in the House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over tax measures, the management of public debt, trade and tariff laws, Social Security, Medicare, pensions, and many other economic growth measures.

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