The House and the Senate voted Tuesday to override a veto of a bill that calls for using cuts in Medicare Advantage funding to help avert reductions in the rates Medicare pays doctors.
President Bush vetoed the bill, H.R. 6331, earlier today.
Bush, who opposes Medicare Advantage funding cuts, said in his veto message that the bill is "fiscally irresponsible" and relies on "short-term budget gimmicks" that do not address the long-term fiscal soundness of the Medicare program.
The House quickly voted 383-41 to override the veto.
Within hours, the Senate voted 70-26 to pass its own override resolution.
Congress now has voted to override a total of 4 presidential vetoes.
If implemented as written, H.R. 6331 will start by holding Medicare payments to doctors at the current rates, increasing Medicare doctor reimbursement rates over the 18 months, and paying for some of the increase in compensation by cutting payments to private insurers that participate in the Medicare Advantage program by $12.5 billion over 5 years.
Congress originally scheduled a cut in the Medicare physician reimbursement rate in legislation developed in an effort to control Medicare program costs.
