House passes Medicare 'doc fix,' 243-183

[cal04]

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68695-house-passes-medicare-doc-fix-243-183

The House overwhelmingly approved a physician repayment bill to permanently fix the way doctors who cover Medicare patients are reimbursed.

Only one Republican member voted with Democrats for the bill that was approved 243-183.

Dr. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) endured intense lobbying efforts by his GOP colleagues to oppose the nearly quarter of a trillion dollar bill that Democrats do not offset.

Eleven Democrats joined 176 Republicans in opposing the bill that would fix what both parties described as a “flawed formula” for reimbursing doctors of Medicare patients.


House passes 'doc fix' bill previously defeated in Senate
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/19/house-passes-doc-fix-bill-previously-defeated-in-senate/

[cutlassmama]

1. It's good this was separated from the health care bill about the Public Option

This needed to be done so that doctor's will still take Medicare and patients will have doctors they can see.

[cal04]

2. House moves to protect doctors from Medicare cuts

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_DOCTORS?SITE=CAVEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff.

The measure, approved on a near party-line vote of 243 to 183, is a top priority for the American Medical Association. The GOP contended that Democrats supported the bill to thank the doctors group for backing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

(snip)
AMA president Dr. James Rohack called on the Senate to act, saying the legislation is "an essential element of comprehensive health reform."

Rohack also dismissed GOP arguments that Democrats were paying off the AMA. "This is about patients - not partisan politics - and we are disappointed in those who are trying to make it a partisan issue," he said in a statement. AARP also supports the physician payment measure, fearing seniors could lose their doctors if the cuts take effect.

[quiet.american]

3. A coda that corrects the "adds to the deficit" claim in that article:

http://house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/Nov09/medicare.html

Pelosi Statement on House Passage of Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act

<snip>
Washington, D.C. – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on legislation that would permanently reform the broken Medicare physician payment system. The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, which passed by a vote of 243 to 183, repeals a 21 percent fee reduction scheduled for January 2010, and replaces the physician payment formula with a more stable system. The bill also includes statutory PAYGO legislation:

<snip>
“As this legislation heads to the Senate, the statutory ‘pay as you go’ budget bill will be added to ensure that we put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility and begin to bring down the deep deficits that face our nation.”