"Congress Stands Together For Medicare And The People"

Congress delivered a stern rebuke to President Bush on Tuesday, overriding his veto of a Medicare bill and preventing pay cuts to doctors who treat seniors, the disabled and military personnel.

Despite little chance of prevailing, Bush issued the veto in the morning, declaring the bill "objectionable" because it would take funds from private health insurers to keep paying doctors and would be "fiscally irresponsible."

But within hours, the House voted 383 to 41 to overrule him. The Senate soon followed in a 70-26 vote that was hailed by physicians and seniors.

The bill, which affects 44 million Medicare beneficiaries and more than 9 million military personnel, now becomes law.

The override, the fourth Congress has delivered to Bush in the last year, underscored the president's weakened status as his second term nears its close.

Bush has vetoed nine bills in two years after issuing no vetoes in his first term.

The votes were part of a long-running ideological battle over the privatization of Medicare, a Bush administration priority that Democrats energetically oppose.

With strong bipartisan support for the override, lawmakers said the vote could set the stage for cooperation on healthcare reform under a new administration.

In the short term, the votes to nullify Bush's veto postponed a pay cut that would have gone into effect the very same day, potentially forcing 60% of doctors to limit new Medicare patients, the American Medical Assn. said.

In the long run, however, lawmakers still must grope for a way to address the reimbursement issue as well as the popular program's overall condition.

"We wasted no time in reversing the president's carelessness and protecting our nation's doctors and the patients they treat," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Physicians celebrated.

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 halts a scheduled 10.6% cut in payments to physicians and institutes a 1.1% payment increase in 2009. The bill improves preventive and mental health benefits and increases an array of other services.

The bill originally passed the House, 355 to 59, then was approved in a dramatic Senate ballot, when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) took a break from cancer treatment to vote for the bill.

Neither Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) nor Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive presidential nominees, were present for Tuesday's vote. California's Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, voted to override the veto.

In the midst of a tough election year, only 41 House Republicans supported Bush's veto, while 153 voted to override it. In the Senate, Republicans split more closely, with 26 voting to support Bush and 21 voting to override.

Many Republicans objected to paying doctors by cutting more than $12 billion in payments to private insurers that offer coverage through private Medicare Advantage plans, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

"This is an attempt to undercut the private insurance part of Medicare that many on the other side of the aisle have never liked. It's one of the signature achievements of the Bush administration," said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).

In a sign of the vote's importance, the powerful seniors lobby AARP made the override a "key vote," informing 39 million members how their elected representatives voted on the issue.

Bush said the bill would force 2.3 million people to leave Medicare Advantage and result in higher drug costs and reduced choices.

"Medicare beneficiaries need and benefit from having more options than just the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional Medicare," Bush said.

But Democrats depicted Bush as siding with private companies over seniors in his drive to privatize the federal program.

Democrats argued that the cuts to private insurers would be minimal and that patient rolls in the private programs would continue growing.

Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria. It was originally signed into law on July 30, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson as amendments to Social Security legislation. At the bill-signing ceremony President Johnson enrolled former President Harry S. Truman as the first Medicare beneficiary and presented him with the first Medicare card.

In general, individuals are eligible for Medicare if they are a U.S. citizen or have been a permanent legal resident for 5 continuous years, and they are 65 years or older, or they are under 65, disabled and have been receiving either Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board disability benefits for at least 24 months, or they get continuing dialysis for permanent kidney failure or need a kidney transplant, or they are eligible for Social Security (disability) and have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS-Lou Gehrig's disease).

With the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Medicare beneficiaries were given the option to receive their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans, instead of through the original Medicare plan (Parts A and B). These programs were known as "Medicare+Choice" or "Part C" plans. Pursuant to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, the compensation and business practices changed for insurers that offer these plans, and "Medicare+Choice" plans became known as "Medicare Advantage" (MA) plans.

Medicare spending is growing steadily in both absolute terms and as a percentage of the federal budget. Total Medicare spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007, or 16 percent of all federal spending. The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense. Given the current pattern of spending growth, maintaining Medicare's financing over the long-term may well require significant changes.

According to the 2008 report by the board of trustees for Medicare and Social Security, Medicare will spend more than it brings in from taxes this year (2008). The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will become insolvent by 2019.

We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want, the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions.

   The Founding Fathers in the wisdom given them, gave the Congress the power to override a Presidential veto because the Congress was envisioned as "the people's House", the branch of the Federal government most sensitive to the needs and desires of the American people but this requires the members of Congress to rise above partisan politics for the good of the people. The Democrat controlled Congress with Republican party support joined together to override President Bush's veto of a very necessary  bill to preserve Medicare coverage for many retired and disabled Americans. Though the government subsidized health care program has benefited millions of Americans, the cost of Medicare continues to grow at a rate that far exceeds the taxes allocated for it and is projected to become insolvent by 2019 without some kind of serious reform. The Bush Administration has begun the process of privatizing Medicare with the goal of eventually eliminating the social insurance program initiated by President Johnson in his "Great Society" agenda. As a Libertarian, in my opinion, that is the ultimate goal of a free market/limited government economy but the transition from government subsidized health care to free market health care must be done in a compassionate process to secure  the well being of the elderly and disabled already in the Medicare system. The 109th Congress did good in standing together for medicare, the elderly and disabled, for the present. The best solution for health care in America is still being worked out. How Obama or McCain will deal with this issue in the next four years remains to be seen. No matter, the people will always have Congress to work things out for the good of the people because ultimately Congress "got the power". Thank God for the Constitution!

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