Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

You're getting closer to a short-term solution to your Medicare payment woes, as the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331) officially becomes law.

On July 9, the Senate voted to support the act. Although the Senate had previously shot down the measure during a June 26 vote, its members changed that by voting in favor of the bill this time around.

The bill then moved to the Oval Office, where President Bush vetoed it before noon on July 15, CQ Politics reports.

"I support the primary objective of this legislation, to forestall reductions in physician payments," said President Bush in his veto statement. "Yet taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong."

Within a few hours after the veto, the House had voted 383-41 to override it, surpassing the two-thirds majority required. The Senate later voted 70-26 to override the veto, according to CQ Politics, making H.R. 6331 law.

In addition to halting the July 1 rate cut, the law continues the 0.5 percent boost that you received last January and increases the conversion factor an additional 1.1 percent for 2009.

Physician groups approve: Following the positive vote, advocacy groups cheered the news.

"It has been a long and winding road, but today we celebrate that Congress heard the voices of millions of patients and physicians and voted to override President Bush's veto and protect the health of America," said Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. "We thank the bipartisan majority in Congress who voted to put patients first."

Not everyone expressed delight at the news of the new temporary pay fix, however. "Congress should be embarrassed to have doctors and seniors come to Washington hat-in-hand every six months or 12 months or 18 months," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a statement following last week's vote. Despite supporting the measure, Cornyn noted that physicians need a long-term solution to the growing problem of pay cuts to the Medicare program.

"I joined with a majority of my colleagues in voting to override the President's veto, because I could not in good conscience allow this year's cuts to go forward," Cornyn said in a statement on Tuesday. "I will continue to push for a permanent fix. Seniors, physicians and the American people deserve real solutions and not the partisan rhetoric we have seen in recent weeks."