Congress quickly overrides presidential veto and halts physician Medicare payment cuts

Yesterday, Congress overrode President George W. Bush's veto of a bill that stops the 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut that went into effect on July 1 and provides a positive payment update for 2009.

In a 383-41 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and a 70-26 vote in the U.S. Senate, Congress overrode the president's veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331). In addition to saving Medicare physicians from the payment cut, the bill increases payments by 0.5% for the remainder of 2008 and provides a 1.1% payment update for 2009.

"It has been a long and winding road, but today we celebrate that Congress heard the voices of millions of patients and physicians and voted to override President Bush's veto and protect the health of America," American Medical Association President, Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, stated in a press release. "We thank the bipartisan majority in Congress who voted to put patients first."

In his veto message to the House, the president called the bill "fiscally irresponsible" and said that it would jeopardize the long-term stability of Medicare by using short-term fixes. He also contended that the bill would undermine the Medicare Part D program, decrease Medicare Advantage enrollment and payments for these plans, and limit the access and choices of beneficiaries.

"I support the primary objective of this legislation, to forestall reductions in physician payments. Yet taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong," Bush said in his message to the House.

The swift action by Congress came the same day that the president issued his veto and ends the long battle over the bill. The House overwhelmingly approved the bill with a 355-59 vote with 20 abstentions in June, but it initially failed to pass the Senate by two votes. A second Senate vote on July 9 passed the bill with a 69-30 vote, with two abstentions.

"This congressional debate underscores the need for lawmakers to permanently replace the flawed Medicare physician payment formula so physicians can focus on the real work at hand: taking care of patients," Nielsen said in the release.

For more information:
www.ama-assn.org
www.whitehouse.gov
http://thomas.loc.gov/