Bush Vetoes Measure Blocking Medicare Doctor Fee Cuts (Update1)

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Bloomberg.com

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush vetoed legislation that would block a cut in Medicare fees for doctors.

The measure now returns for an override vote in the House and Senate, where it originally passed with more than enough votes to thwart the veto.

The legislation would avert a 10.6 percent cut in fees paid to doctors by Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled. It would cut reimbursement instead to insurers that provide care through plans called Medicare Advantage. While Democrats say the companies are overpaid, Bush has said cutting their funding would hurt seniors enrolled in the plans.

``I support the primary objective of this legislation, to forestall reductions in physician payments,'' Bush said in a message to Congress. ``Yet taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong.'' . . .




Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aL7QiLgydb2s&refer=home

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Now comes the override, with the House voting yet today. That one is a given. They are trying to turn the Senate, which voted 69-30 for the measure, but I think George has overreached here, and is going to suffer a veto override. The times may be a'changin.

The Senate is eager to get this over with. Here's one more from the article: "Congress will attempt to override the veto ``as soon as possible,'' said Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for the Senate Finance Committee, in an e-mailed response to questions. ``There's no time to waste.''

[PA Democrat]

1. Bush is a liar. He doesn't give a DAMN about "choices for seniors"

what he cares about is that the bill cut corporate welfare subsidies to the insurance companies. The only thing Bush cares about is ensuring that greedy pigs maintain their stranglehold on struggling Americans.

[Joanne98]

9. "choice" is a code word for privatize...

[hedgehog]

2. If we'd had a veto 10 years ago, we wouldn't be in this situation today.

From the link:

"The reduction was required under a formula Congress approved a decade ago to hold down Medicare spending, "

[fascisthunter]

3. Everything Bush does is to enrich the Rich and Screw everyone else

but that will take tons of Orwelian BS to convince enough sheep to go along with him.

[endarkenment]

4. Trillions for wall street. Nothing for us.

Socialism for the corporate elites. Free market fundamentalist bullshit for the peasants.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. The "Company" that pays the Bills to Doctors is owned by Bush's uncle

Medicare itself does not distribute payments to doctors for services. Instead, the CMS (Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services), which administrates Medicare, awards contracts to separate insurance companies <2>. Wellpoint, Inc., which owns major insurance companies such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, has taken most, if not all of these contracts <3>. Quoting from HowStuffWorks.com: "Initially, Medicare was as a single-payer system in which the government acted as the administrator and distributor of taxpayer-funded health insurance. However, since the 1990s, government officials have made changes that allow private insurers to take part in Medicare, opening the system to market forces." <4>

Meanwhile, doctors are reporting drastic changes in payment times and schedules for Medicare. Typically, Medicare companies pay out as soon as possible, because by law they can only pay two weeks after an electronic claim is filed. One doctor, who was originally paid by an independent insurance company for Medicare says that "Payments have gone from taking 3 weeks or less to more than 9 weeks when Wellpoint started to send Medicare checks to us. Meanwhile, we're just trying to keep the office going, and we can hardly manage with the delayed payments." <5>

That's right, payment times have tripled under Wellpoint insurance. Many doctors report the drastic change in payment times across the United States.

So what's Bush's big mistake?

According to the Wellpoint company website, George W. Bush's uncle is on the board of directors <6>. In addition, he owns a company, Bush-O'Donnell and Co., which is described as a "a holding company with interests in insurance, money management, investment banking and manufacturing." <7>

By allowing Wellpoint to take nearly all Medicare contracts, putting payments on hold, and additionally allowing Wellpoint to nearly triple the time it takes for doctors to be paid by Medicare, it can be seen the Wellpoint must make an extremely large amount of profit by holding the nearly $500 billion that flows through Medicare each year, and collecting interest on that money.

Sources:
<1>
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/30/with-medicare-pay-hold-claims-backlog-will-build-up/
<2>
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicare4.htm
<3>
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS120911+05-May-2008+PRN20080505
<4>
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicare4.htm
<5>
Original anonymous quote
<6>
http://ir.wellpoint.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=130104&p=irol-govboard
<7>
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_H.

[Justitia]

6. Do ya hear that Docs out there? Bush wants to take your money & give it to insurance companies.

Which is such a republican thing to do.

I am always amazed at the number of docs I know who turn out to be hard core repubs.

Then again, those particular docs probably aren't taking Medicare patients to begin with.

[HockeyMom]

7. They won't take your measly HMO's either

Top of the line PPO's or no thank you, YOU pay up.

[Trillo]

8. Another K & R !

Lots of important stories today.

Those damn, overpaid, overeducated medicine people. "Take that" says the Executive Branch CEO!

[dysfunctional press]

10. if anyone ever deserved to live their later years in excruciating pain...

it's that evil little piece of shit that oozed out of babs pus-filled womb.

[MrBlueSky]

11. House is done...

even lockstep Repukes are with the House Dems on this one. Final tally was 383-41 with 11 reps not voting. Pretty quick too... taken 4:48 pm ET.


Anyone know when the Senate has their override scheduled?

[Faygo Kid]

12. Right now.

Watching it on CSpan 2.