News
Congress Overrides Bush Veto on Medicare; Package Includes Pulmonary Rehab, Doctor Payments, Oxygen Rule Repeal
WASHINGTON—(AP) Congress on Tuesday rejected President Bush’s veto of legislation protecting doctors from a 10.6 percent cut in their reimbursement rates when treating Medicare patients.
The override vote in the House was a lopsided 383-41, easily meeting the two-thirds threshold needed to nullify the president’s veto. About an hour later, the Senate voted to override, 70-26.
The veto override was on a Medicare package bill that includes a provision making pulmonary rehabilitation a permanent Medicare benefit.
The bill includes two other provisions of major importance to the patient community:
- Repeal of the title transfer of oxygen equipment to patients after 36 months of Medicare payments for equipment
- A delay in the implementation of the competitive bidding process for oxygen providers.
