Arkansas' Third District Congressman has expressed support for permanently dealing with looming cuts to physician payments in Medicare but voiced his concern over Speaker Pelosi’s plan to address this issue by increasing the federal deficit.

U.S. Representative John Boozman issued the following statement as the House prepares to vote on the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act that will add more than $200 billion to the deficit.

“Americans on Medicare are finding it increasingly difficult to find physicians willing to treat them because the reimbursement rates of this program don’t cover the cost of the health care they receive. I understand the frustrations Medicare customers experience because of the difficulty of finding physicians who accept new patients. We need to permanently fix this reimbursement issue so more doctors are willing to treat Medicare patients.

I am committed to paying our physicians for the true costs of services they provide. However, Speaker Pelosi’s plan doesn’t address the long term needs of our physicians, nor is it fiscally responsible in this current economic climate. We need a permanent solution that accurately reflects the cost of health care services provided to Americans on Medicare. I look forward to continuing my work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to finally craft a legislative proposal that does just that.”

Boozman, an optometrist and member of the Doctors Caucus, supports an alternative solution that provides physicians with a two percent increase in each of the next four years, while continuing to craft a permanent solution.