Senate Dems to force Medicare vote

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Democrats say they're hoping to force a vote on Medicare payment cuts to doctors after an advertising blitz aimed at Republicans.

GOP Senate members succeeded in blocking a vote to rescind the planned 10.6-percent cut in Medicare fee reimbursements, thus preventing the Senate from acting on a lopsided U.S. House of Representatives vote to prevent the cuts. But an American Medical Association-backed ad campaign blasting the Republican stance may have changed the equation, The New York Times reported Monday.

The ads, aimed at 10 Republican senators, including seven up for election this fall, claimed Republicans have been protecting "powerful insurance companies at the expense of Medicare patients' access to doctors."

U.S. President George Bush and other Republicans oppose maintaining doctors' fees because it would reduce payments to private insurance companies offering alternatives to the traditional government-run Medicare program, the Times said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he plans to force a vote this week.