Wally Herger

I thank my friend from Texas.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1845, as amended, the Medicare IVIG Access and Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act of 2012.

This legislation would create a 3-year demonstration project to provide up to 4,000 Medicare beneficiaries suffering from primary immunodeficiency diseases with in-home coverage of IVIG. Medicare beneficiaries with PIDD need the biologic IVIG to boost their immune system so they can fight off infection and maintain a high quality of life.

Medicare currently offers comprehensive coverage of IVIG treatments in the physician's office and hospital setting, but not when IVIG is administered in the home. This flawed payment policy encourages Medicare beneficiaries to receive care in the most costly settings.

Under this demonstration project, Medicare part B would cover the home administration costs, including the trained medical professional who administers the biologic, allowing up to 4,000 beneficiaries with PIDD to receive IVIG treatments in their home. Importantly, beneficiaries who receive IVIG

in their home can avoid the risk of infection inherent in alternative treatment settings.

The HHS Secretary would be required to issue a report to Congress detailing the impact this demonstration project had on beneficiary access to care, and whether or not CMS should permanently change its IVIG coverage policy. According to CBO, the costs of this one-time demonstration are fully offset by permanently reforming Medicare's secondary-payer rules as detailed in the SMART Act.

The SMART Act will help ensure that taxpayers will not be stuck with a Medicare bill for incidents caused when another party is liable or negligent. The SMART Act also makes important changes so that the arcane Medicare rules would no longer be an impediment for parties resolving their differences and reaching settlement.

Madam Speaker, we need to protect the Medicare trust funds, and we need to have an efficient, consistent, and clear process to resolve these claims; and the SMART Act does exactly that.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this important legislation.

I thank my good friend from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of H.R. 1509, which is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will protect our Nation's seniors.

I do not doubt that many of us have received letters from constituents who have faced problems due to their Social Security number being compromised. Over the years, I've held a number of forums in my northern California district to raise awareness about identity theft and financial scams targeting senior citizens. I've heard complaints from many of these constituents that, while the public increasingly understands the importance of safeguarding personal information, Medicare isn't doing its part. With today's vote, we take the first step towards removing these numbers from the Medicare cards that beneficiaries are encouraged to carry with them at all times. We've heard too many excuses over the years, and it is becoming clear to me that CMS simply isn't interested in protecting seniors and people with disabilities from identity theft. Importantly, this legislation will not increase the deficit.

H.R. 1509 also includes a study to examine the use of smart card technology in the Medicare program. Some technology stakeholders have expressed concerns with the duration of the 2-year study. If GAO is able to complete the study on a more expedited timeframe, I would be happy to work with Congressman Gerlach and the technology community to shorten this deadline as the bill moves through the legislative process.

Given the inaction at CMS on removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards, it is time for the Congress to lead. It is time to take this long overdue, commonsense approach and protect America's seniors. I urge passage of H.R. 1509.

I thank my good friend.

How wonderful it is to be able to sit here and listen to all these incredibly warm remarks from people who, like myself, know and love Jay Pierson. And there's a reason for that. Jay, you're one of the best of the best.

It's hard to believe that 26 years comes and goes so very, very quickly, but it was 26 years ago when I first came here. Of course you come here and you're excited and you've come here with a dream because of our great country and to preserve our Constitution, but boy, there's a lot to learn. There's a lot of hallways to figure out. There's a lot of procedures to try to figure out how to work our way through. Jay, you were always there. You were there, for a guy like myself, that I could come up to on the QT. It seems like we were always someplace where we just asked Jay: What do we do with this? When are we voting next? What is this vote on? What are the procedures coming up next? No matter what the question, Jay Pierson had the correct answer in a way that even a freshman or one that was new learning could understand.

Of course, also, we have something else in common, the Pacific Ocean, California, another Californian like myself.

But Jay, you have been such a friend, not just to my colleagues, but to me. That says a lot about you. There isn't any way to express our appreciation to you enough but to say thank you, thank you, thank you. You have made my tenure here so much more successful and enjoyable because I had someone there, kind of a shining star up there. If I wasn't quite sure how to navigate my way around this floor, I could always go to Jay. You knew what was coming up next, when it was coming up, an estimate of when we were going to vote the next time, so on and so forth. So, Jay, thank you. Thank you for being a friend.

I'm sure each of us felt the same way I did. It was like, Gee, I think I'm Jay's best friend. I think every one of us felt that way because, indeed, Jay, that's how you did treat each of us because that's the way you are. So, Jay, thank you.

It's interesting. When we were both talking, I mentioned that I was retiring; you were letting me know you're retiring at the same time.

Well, anyway, best of luck to you. Thank you for serving this great Nation of ours in the way that you have. Thank you for assisting people like myself--and there has been hundreds, many hundreds of us whom you've assisted over the years--I should put that into perhaps the thousands. We will be eternally grateful. Good luck to you. God bless you. God bless your family.