On June 25 2008 – The House has passed a bill just in the nick of time that will result in Medicare payments to doctors not being cut, as was originally planned to be the case.
Doctors who treated Medicare patients were about set to be paid an average of 10% less in forms of reimbursements by the government, a fact that would’ve caused quite an uproar.
The bill was passed by a vote of 355-59, a fact that will result in doctors who treat Medicare patients not receiving less reimbursement money.
Instead, the money will be taken from money given to private health insurance companies, a fact that will ruffle their feathers quite a bit.
It is estimated that in the US more than 600,000 doctors treat patients on the Medicare program. Reimbursement rates were to be adjusted as of July 1, in conjunction with the exceeding of targeted spending goals.
President Bush has stated that he will veto the bill if it makes it out of the Senate
Last night the Senate failed to get the 60 votes to invoke cloture and end debate, thereby stopping the bill, the vote was mostly along party lines with 9 Republican’s voting in favor of the bill:
CQ Updates has a good analysis of the situation
To give you some background on the love going around the Senate, you have to read this evenings consecutive press releases by Senator Grassley::
Thursday June 26, 2008
7:51pm
Senator Grassley just delivered the following statement.
Floor Statement of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance
Cloture motion on H.R. 6331, the Medicare bill
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mr. President, here we are again. Once again, the Senate is being asked to vote to proceed to a bill written on a partisan basis. Once again we are being asked if we want to agree to a process where no amendments are allowed. Once again we are being told to “take it or leave it.”
The damage this is doing to the ability of this body to function is extraordinary. It shouldn’t be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way.
During the last several years, the Finance Committee has produced numerous bipartisan health care products. In 2003, Senator Baucus and I joined together, defied the long odds against us, and produced a Medicare Prescription Drug bill. In 2005, we worked together on a relief package in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, we passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act. In 2007, we worked together on a bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill. We also passed the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007. For years, the Finance Committee has been the model of how a committee can work on a cooperative, bipartisan basis.
I think we work best when we work together. For some reason, that hasn’t seemed to be the case this year. I’ve tried to work this year to get a bill that could get signed into law. I personally think the White House has drawn lines in the sand that are unreasonable. However, the President holds the veto pen, and if this bill passes today, we will see it used.
I tried to work towards a bill that could get signed. Obviously, that was not a path the majority could follow. Even after the first cloture vote failed in the Senate, I tried to get a bipartisan compromise that could be signed into law. That effort was abandoned when the House voted to support the bill that the Senate couldn’t get cloture on.
When we were in charge around here, I can say we certainly didn’t appreciate it when the House Ways and Means Committee tried to dictate terms to the Senate. When Ways and Means Chairman Thomas tried to roll the Senate, I defended the bipartisan Senate position. When I was Chair of the Finance Committee, I don’t recall our bipartisan efforts being determined by House votes. To the contrary, I think we worked together in spite of House votes.
And let’s be clear about another thing. The House vote went the way it did because members were assured the Senate was going to fix the problems in this bill. They are counting on us to fix it so we have a bill the President will sign. They are right about one thing though; this bill does need to be improved.
The bill that the Democrats are trying to pass is woefully lacking in what it provides rural America. I’d like to call out one specific provision. Senator Harkin and I have worked extensively on a provision for the so-called “tweener” hospitals. These are hospitals, which are too large to be critical access hospitals, but too small to do well under current Medicare payment systems. We had a provision to improve payments to these hospitals, but it’s not in the House Democrats’ bill. A vote for cloture misses an opportunity to provide critical assistance to rural hospitals all over this country. I’m sure Senator Harkin and others are as disappointed as I am by this omission.
Voting for this bill accomplishes nothing. It won’t become law. How much clearer can we be about that? To keep the pay cut for doctors from happening, we have to defeat this motion so that we can sit down and finally produce a bill that can become law. To improve Medicare, we have to produce a bill that can become law. To make sure beneficiaries continue to have access to essential therapy services, we have to produce a bill that can become law. To help beneficiaries, we have to produce a bill that can become law. To preserve access to durable medical equipment for seniors, we have to produce a bill that can become law.
We have to be allowed to do our work in the U.S. Senate. We have to be allowed to produce the best bill possible through bipartisan compromise. Let’s show that we can still work on a cooperative basis. We have to defeat this motion so that we preserve the right of the Senate to have input on legislation, that we aren’t simply a rubber stamp for the House. We should defeat this motion so we can show that bipartisanship is not dead on important health care issues that matter to millions of people who depend on us as stewards of Medicare.
So let’s do the right thing and vote no. Vote no so this body does not abdicate it duties under the Constitution. Vote no so we can get a bill done this week that can become law. Vote no so we can get the job done. A yes vote accomplishes nothing today.
Thursday June 26, 2008
9:34pm
Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, made the following comment after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the House Medicare bill and the Senate majority leader blamed Republicans:
"The Senate leader’s take-it-or-leave-it approach and on-the-floor election-year calculations hurt doctors and seniors. It’s past time for the Senate to act responsibly and work out a bipartisan bill to avert an unfair cut in the reimbursement rate for doctors who treat Medicare patients."