House overrides Bush veto of Medicare bill

WASHINGTON – In a swift rebuke to President Bush, the House voted overwhelmingly today to override his veto of a Medicare bill that would forestall pay cuts to doctors who treat seniors, the disabled and military personnel.

The House voted 383 to 41 to block the president’s veto. A Senate vote to override the veto is scheduled for later today and is expected to be close.

The pay cut to doctors would take effect today and many have said it would force them to stop treating Medicare patients.

The bill, called the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, would halt a scheduled 10.6% cut in payments to physicians and instead institute a 1.1% payment increase in 2009.

The bill would improve preventive and mental health benefits, increase access to physical, occupational and speech and language therapy, and increase help for low-income Medicare recipients with their out-of-pocket and prescription drug costs.

Bush and many Republicans oppose the bill because funds to prevent the cut in doctor payments would come from more than $12 billion in cuts to private insurance companies that offer coverage under the private Medicare Advantage program, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield. They oppose overriding the veto to restore fees to doctors by cutting payments to private insurers.

“This is a horrible way to do what we’re doing today,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).

But Democrats depicted Bush as siding with private companies over seniors in his drive to privatize the federal program for seniors and the disabled.

“Imagine vetoing a bill that allows seniors to have doctors take care of them,” said Rep. Anna Eschoo (D-Menlo Park). “It’s one heck of a way to gut Medicare.”

The bill originally passed the House by 355 to 59 and then passed the Senate this month in a dramatic 69-30 vote that followed the unexpected appearance of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who took a break from cancer treatment to return to the Senate to support the bill.

Bush vetoed the bill this morning, declaring it “objectionable” because it would take funds from private health insurers, would “undermine the Medicare prescription drug program,” and is fiscally irresponsible.

Without the veto override, 60% of doctors would be forced to limit the number of new Medicare patients they treat, according to the American Medical Assn., which supports the bill.

“We urge all members of Congress to stand firmly on the side of seniors, the disabled and military families and vote to override the veto,” said AMA President Nancy Nielsen.

The bill also affects the 9.2 million active and retired personnel and their family members who use the military’s Tricare system, because it uses payment rates set by Medicare.

If the president’s veto is not overturned, “it would be nothing less than a disaster for the military community,” said Sgt. Mark Seavey of the National Guard.

Seavey said one of the greatest healthcare challenges facing military families now is finding doctors who will treat them under the Tricare system. The reimbursement rate cut could make the problem much worse, Seavey said.

The annual cuts in physicians’ Medicare reimbursement rates stem from 1990s legislation that instituted small annual payment cuts as part of an effort to lower the deficit. Congress has usually canceled those annual cuts and as a result they have become cumulative - totaling 10.6% this year.

Congress has not rewritten or repealed the requirement for the cuts, largely because it has been unable to agree on exactly how to do so.

nicole.gaouette@latimes.com