Late Tuesday night Congress successfully averted a 10.6 percent cut to the Medicare physician reimbursement rate just before it was scheduled to take affect at midnight. Congress voted to override the president’s veto of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act.

Under considerable pressure from physician and patient groups, many Republicans split with the president and vote in favor of an override. The House of Representatives voted 383 to 41 to override while the Senate voted 70 to 26. Both well above the required 2/3 majority.

Tony Snow died early Saturday morning from colon cancer.  He was 53.

Formerly White House Press Secretary, Snow was diagnosed with colon cancer  in February of 2005.  He had surgery and chemotherapy.  His cancer was in remission until a recurrence in his liver in March, 2007.

His mother also died of colon cancer when Snow was a teenager and she was 38. Read the rest of this entry »

Greeted by a standing ovation from senators on both sides of the aisle, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) returned to the Senate floor on Wednesday for the first time since he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May.

His return brought a victory to a stalled Medicare bill. The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act (HR 6331) was approved yesterday by a veto proof margin in the Senate. Now the 10.6 percent cut to physicians’ payments, which went into effect on July 1st, will be reversed.

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There’s nothing like the 4th of July to remind us of how great our country is. For me, what I love most about being an American is my right to speak out in support or opposition of what my elected officials are doing up in Congress and in the White House.

When I turned 18, I was so excited that I finally had the right to vote (you can imagine how much fun I was in high school). As a bona fide history geek, every time I vote, or place a call to Congress or write a letter to my electeds, I think about the patriots who embarked on a Great Experiment and sought to create a government of the people, by the people, for the people. How unsure they must have been that it would work, that a country without a strong central government would be able to thrive, that its citizens wouldn’t naturally gravitate back into living under tyranny. Ultimately, their faith in humankind won out over the fear and doubt. Man, that gets me.

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Last week the U.S. Senate was unable to vote on HR 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act. The Senate voted 58-40 to cut off debate and take up the bill, but they were two votes shy of what was needed.

What does this mean? If the Senate vote to cut off the debate ended up 60-40, the Senate would have been forced to vote on the bill. Instead, the Senate debated endlessly (filibuster) until they finally adjourned to go home for the entire next week. Because of this inaction, payments for physicians who treat Medicare recipients were cut by 10.6 percent on July 1st.

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