Walz Votes with Bipartisan Majority

Press Release

Congressman Walz joined an overwhelming majority of his colleagues - on both sides of the aisle - to override President Bush's veto of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA). The legislation prevents a pending 10 percent payment reduction for physicians who accept Medicare patients, enhances Medicare preventive and mental health benefits, and improves and extends programs for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The legislation passed the House in June by a vote of 355-59 and earlier this month in the Senate with a vote of 69-31. Today's override vote count was 383-41.

"The President's veto of this key bill was reckless for southern Minnesota," said Walz. "It threatens to deny access to Medicare services for millions of seniors and people with disabilities and to fundamentally undermine the Medicare program. In tough economic times, it is more important than ever for us to come together to ensure that our seniors have access to the doctors they know and trust."

This critical bill is supported by more than 150 organizations, including the American Medical Association, AARP, National Council on Aging, American Legion, National Rural Health Association and Mental Health America.

In addition to helping rural health providers and their patients, the bill will do the following:

Physicians
- The bill eliminates the pending 10 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians for the remainder of 2008 and provides a 1.1 percent update in Medicare physician payments for 2009.

Beneficiaries
- The bill extends and improves low-income assistance programs for Medicare beneficiaries whose income is below $14,040. This includes the "Qualified Individual" program which pays part B premiums for low-income beneficiaries with incomes of $12,480 to $14,040 a year.

- The bill adds new preventive benefits to the Medicare program and reduces beneficiary out of pocket costs for mental health care.

Pharmacies
- The bill requires prescription drug plans contracted under Medicare to:
pay pharmacies promptly (within 14 days); and update the prices they will reimburse for prescription medicines at least weekly so the pharmacies know what they should get paid.

Other
- H.R. 6331 makes a number of other modest changes to Medicare payments including protecting access to therapy services by extending the exceptions process to the limits on therapy visits for beneficiaries in nursing homes.

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