Obama Statement on Passage of Medicare Bill

From the Obama campaign:

Statement of Barack Obama on Passage of Medicare Bill

“Today, the U.S. Senate took a major step forward in addressing the needs of seniors and military families all across this nation.  At a time when doctors are facing double digit increases in the costs of providing care, I am proud to have joined with my colleagues to stop a devastating cut in physician reimbursement that would have caused them to shut the door to many Medicare and Tricare beneficiaries.  John McCain has said that he would have opposed this bill, demonstrating yet again that he's more than willing to put the interests of the health insurance industry over our nation's 44 million seniors and 9 million uniformed service members,” said Senator Barack Obama.

Without today's legislation doctors and patients across the country would have suffered tremendously. A state-by-state breakdown follows of what would have happened without passage of today's legislation:

Alaska:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $20 million
Average Physician's Loss: $9,000
People Affected:       7,585 employees,
49,677 Medicare patients
88,451 TRICARE patients

Arizona:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $220 million
Average Physician's Loss: $16,000
People Affected:       60,609 employees,
757,781 Medicare patients
209,013 TRICARE patients

Colorado:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $110 million
Average Physician's Loss: $8,000
People Affected:       44,023 employees,
498,450 Medicare patients
214,738TRICARE patients

Georgia:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $330 million
Average Physician's Loss: $17,000
People Affected:       84,494 employees,
1,007,857 Medicare patients
441,082 TRICARE patients

Florida:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $1.3 billion
Average Physician's Loss: $25,000
People Affected:       212,201 employees,
2,930,058 Medicare patients
691,487 TRICARE patients

Indiana:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $260 million
Average Physician's Loss: $19,000
People Affected:       64,908 employees,
865,792 Medicare patients
90,439 TRICARE patients

Iowa:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $110 million
Average Physician's Loss: $17,000
People Affected:       27,095 employees,
468,637 Medicare patients
41,891 TRICARE patients

Michigan:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $540 million
Average Physician's Loss: $21,000
People Affected:       92,826 employees,
1,429,304 Medicare patients
96,506 TRICARE patients

Missouri:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $240 million
Average Physician's Loss: $17,000
People Affected:       53,769 employees,
869,941 Medicare patients
153,311 TRICARE patients

Montana:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $30 million
Average Physician's Loss: $13,000
People Affected:       7,257 employees,
143,666 Medicare patients
32,825 TRICARE patients

Nevada:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $80 million
Average Physician's Loss: $16,000
People Affected:       23,172 employees,
280,738 Medicare patients
99,641 TRICARE patients

New Hampshire:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $40 million
Average Physician's Loss: $12,000
People Affected:       14,423 employees,
175,128 Medicare patients
29,684 TRICARE patients

New Mexico:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $50 million
Average Physician's Loss: $10,000
People Affected:       16,916 employees,
254,051 Medicare patients
85,440 TRICARE patients

North Carolina:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $380 million
Average Physician's Loss: $18,000
People Affected:       85,165 employees,
1,248,392 Medicare patients
497,645 TRICARE patients

North Dakota:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $30 million
Average Physician's Loss: $15,000
People Affected:       7,055 employees,
98,257 Medicare patients
31,664 TRICARE patients

Ohio:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $490 million
Average Physician's Loss: $16,000
People Affected:       115,272 employees,
1,670,196 Medicare patients
160,415 TRICARE patients

Pennsylvania:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $540 million
Average Physician's Loss: $15,000
People Affected:       142,006 employees,
2,005,670 Medicare patients
161,653 TRICARE patients

Virginia:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $230 million
Average Physician's Loss: $16,000
People Affected:       72,763 employees,
946,194 Medicare patients
758,868 TRICARE patients

Wisconsin:
Payments Lost by Dec. 2009: $190 million
Average Physician's Loss: $13,000
People Affected:       59,886 employees,
791,802 Medicare patients
66,626 TRICARE patients

Source: American Medical Association