Medicare Bill To Halt Payment Cuts Finally Passes In Senate, Senator Edward Kennedy Votes

Medicare Bill To Halt Payment Cuts Finally Passes In Senate, Senator Edward Kennedy Votes in Politics and Legislation

UPDATE: After President George W. Bush struck down the bill, both chambers in U.S. Congress overturned the veto and the measure is now law, reported the Washington Post.

ORIGINAL POST:

The U.S. Senate failed once to stop payment cuts for doctors providing care for Medicare beneficiaries, but not twice.

Yesterday, the bill that stalled before Independence Day was passed in a vote of 69 to 30, reported the Associated Press and the Baltimore Sun.

The measure was controversial not because it halted the payment cuts, but because it will reduce payments for Medicare Advantage plans — which are administered by private health insurance companies.

Many Republican lawmakers were initially opposed to this provision, but some eventually gave in — nine Senators switched their votes from “Nay” to “Yea” in the vote yesterday.

Still, the White House rejects the measure. Advisors to President George W. Bush have recommended the president veto the bill.

But the likely vetoed bill will likely become law, regardless.

With veto-proof margins of approval in both the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, President Bush’s veto will not stick.

U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who recently underwent brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, was present for Wednesday’s passage of the bill.

Senator Kennedy was met with an ovation from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

“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,” said Senator Kennedy.

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