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Senate acts to halt Medicare payment cuts
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On July 9, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of a bill that would stop the 10.6% Medicare physician payment cut that went into effect on July 1. Now the bill awaits presidential approval to become law.
The Senate passed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) with a 69-30 vote, with two abstentions.
In addition to halting the Medicare physician payment cuts, the bill will increase payments by 0.5% for the remainder of 2008 and provide a 1.1% payment update for 2009.
“Today, the American Medical Association (AMA) celebrates that the Senate heard the voices of patients and physicians and voted to stop Medicare physician payment cuts that would have hurt seniors’ access to care by a bipartisan veto-proof majority,” J. James Rohack, MD, president-elect of the AMA, said in a press release.
“We especially appreciate the heroic efforts of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who made this critical vote his first after his surgery. We also applaud those senators who put patients first and voted yes even though they had concerns about the process or some of the bill’s provisions,” Rohack said in the news release.
Less than 2 weeks ago, the Senate failed to pass the bill after it had been overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. As reported on www.ORTHOSuperSite.com, the Senate originally voted 58-40, with two abstentions, making the June 26 Senate vote just shy of the three-fifths required for a majority decision.
The House of Representatives voted 355-59 in support of the bill, with 20 abstentions.
“Now we urge President Bush to hear and heed the voices of seniors, the disabled and miliary families — and sign the bill into law for the health of America,” Rohack said.
In a press release posted on his Web site, Kennedy said, “I return to the Senate today to keep a promise to our senior citizens — and that’s to protect Medicare. Win, lose or draw, I wanted to be here. I wasn’t going to take the chance that my vote could make the difference.”
For more information:
- www.ama-assn.org
- www.orthosupersite.com/view.asp?rID=29229