Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Bush's Medicare veto overridden

|
|
 
  
Published: July 15, 2008 at 7:39 PM

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Congress voted Tuesday to override U.S. President George Bush's veto of a bill restoring money cut from Medicare payments to doctors.

Both houses easily surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Bush's veto -- 70-26 in the Senate and 383-41 in the House of Representatives, The Hill reported. Bush has been overridden just three times, the Washington newspaper noted.

The Republican president had tried to stop the measure earlier in the day, saying he backs restoration of the 10.6 percent in payments, but not the method used to fund it, The Hill said.

Congress moved money from private Medicare Advantage plans.

"Taking choices away from seniors to pay physicians is wrong," Bush said. "I urge the Congress to send me a bill that reduces the growth in Medicare spending, increases competition and efficiency, implements principles of value-driven health care and appropriately offsets increases in physician spending."

Bush said the bill would risk prescription benefits available through Medicare Part D and hurt the 9.6 million people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.

A number of Republican senators joined in the override.

Topics: George Bush
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
News: Two cars fighting gun battle on Interstate accidentally fire into car of innocent women. Fark:...
Dads, before showing "The Smurfs" DVD from your laptop at your kid's birthday party, make sure you...
It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand
Baby shower ends with three people stabbed after a drunken argument between relatives of mom-to-be...
"Man charged with exposing himself to women while riding bike" which really is a lot harder than...
Florida man ran into his ex-girlfriend yesterday. Then he backed up and ran into her again. He misses...