House of Representatives Votes on H.R. 3630
Tonight the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, by a vote of 234-193. Despite the fact that the bill included an important two-year delay in steep cuts to the Medicare physician reimbursement rate, NRHA strongly opposed H.R. 3630 and believes the bill will be detrimental to the fragile rural health care safety net. Specifically, the bill does not include many of the critically important expiring rural Medicare “extenders.” Additionally, some of the “pay-fors” for the bill disproportionately harm rural providers and could devastate the delivery of rural health care. We urge the Senate to pass legislation that protects rural patients and providers and will include extending all expiring rural Medicare “extenders.” Your action needed. The Senate may vote on the House bill tonight. Please call your Senators and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 3630. NRHA will also continue to update this blog, our Facebook page, and our Twitter feed as additional information becomes available. If you have any questions about this information, please contact Government Affairs at (202) 639-0550.