MINNEAPOLIS, July 16, 2008—Both the House of Representatives and the Senate acted Tuesday to override President Bush's veto of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008.

The bipartisan vote in the House was 383-41—a wider margin than the original House vote in June. All members of the Minnesota delegation voted to override. In the original vote, only Rep. Michelle Bachman voted against the bill.

Tuesday evening the Senate voted 70-26 to overturn the veto. The bill, which prevents a 10.6 percent reduction in payments to doctors treating elderly Medicare patients now becomes law.

Twenty-one Republicans in the Senate and 153 in the House broke ranks with Bush and joined majority Democrats to overturn the veto.

Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D., president of the American Medical Association, hailed the Senate vote with this statement:

“It has been a long and winding road, but today we celebrate that Congress heard the voices of millions of patients and physicians and voted to override President Bush’s veto and protect the health of America.

"We thank the bipartisan majority in Congress who voted to put patients first.

“This congressional debate underscores the need for lawmakers to permanently replace the flawed Medicare physician payment formula so physicians can focus on the real work at hand: taking care of patients.

"The bill contains a number of other important provisions, including an extension of expiring provisions that boost payments in rural areas, bonuses for quality reporting, a phase-out of higher co-pays for mental health services, an expansion of the medical home demonstration project and increased payments for anesthesia teaching programs.

“Along with the AMA, many patient, physician, and military groups called on Congress to pass this bipartisan bill. The only group opposing the bill was the health insurance lobby, which was eager to protect health plan subsidies and profits.

"Seniors, the disabled, and military families celebrate with us today as this bill becomes law to protect their access to needed health care.”