Congress Overrides Bush Medicare Veto

Members of AARP applaud during a rally to support the enactment of the Medicare bill. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Almost as quickly as President Bush vetoed a controversial Medicare reform bill, Congress overwhelmingly overrode it early Tuesday evening, preventing a 10.6 percent cut in payments to 600,000 doctors serving Medicare patients.

Bush vetoed the legislation early Tuesday afternoon. At 4:48 p.m., Democratic members of the House of Representatives and 153 Republican members voted 383-41 to override. Senate Democrats were joined by 21 Republicans and voted 70-26 to override.

"Tonight's votes for the Medicare bill are a victory, not just for older Americans, but for the future of American health care," AARP CEO Bill Novelli said Tuesday evening. "This legislation makes immediate improvements to Medicare, helping people afford their health care and better ensuring access to their doctors." AARP generated wide support for the legislation, including over 1.2 million letters, phone calls and e-mail contacts with lawmakers.  
 
"This law also lays the groundwork, in statute and in spirit, for broader health care reform. By instituting a system of electronic prescribing, this bill will reduce errors and improve efficiency while setting the stage for greater use of health information technology," Novelli continued. "Looking ahead, today's demonstration of bipartisanship offers promise for our work in the coming years to broadly reform our health care system."

By breaking down partisan divisions and gathering overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, this law proved that lawmakers can still set aside their differences and work toward meaningful policy.  
 
The legislation blocks the doctors' pay cut and finances the higher doctor payments by shaving $13 billion from Medicare Advantage private health plans over the next five years. The bill also includes benefits for mental health and low-income programs and boosts the quality of care by calling for doctors to prescribe medications electronically.

Congress has been heavily lobbied by a coalition of health interest groups, including the American Medical Association, which favored the measure, and the insurance industry, which opposed it.

"I guess the president is voting with them and not with America's seniors and those with disabilities when he vetoed this bill," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Originally, the bill was passed by a lopsided, bipartisan 335-59 vote in the House three weeks ago and gained the support of 69 Republican and Democratic senators when it was approved by the Senate. The Senate vote came after a dramatic appearance by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., making his first visit to Capitol Hill since his June 2 surgery for brain cancer.

But the White House has consistently opposed any legislation that scaled back the Medicare Advantage program. Medicare Advantage lets older and disabled people get their health benefits through a private insurer instead of traditional Medicare. "I support the primary objective of this legislation, to forestall reductions in physician payments," Bush said in a statement accompanying his veto. "Yet taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong." It was the third Bush veto to be reversed this year.