Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

SANTA FE – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said he is relieved that the Senate has finally approved legislation that will turn back a scheduled 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians. 

The bill, which Bingaman cosponsored in its stand-alone form, needed 60 votes to be brought up for consideration.  Earlier this month, it received just 59 votes.  But Majority Leader Harry Reid brought up the bill once again today and this time enough Republicans changed their votes to give it a veto-proof majority (69-30).  The bill, which had overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, can now be sent to the White House for signature. 

The physician cuts were scheduled to occur on January 1, 2008, but Congress passed a temporary delay through the end of this month.  This bill not only prevents any cuts in Medicare reimbursements for 18 months, it also provides a 1.1 percent increase in reimbursements payments to physicians and bonuses for doctors serving rural communities. 

"Just a few weeks ago, we couldn't get enough votes to get this through the Senate.  Now we have enough votes to override the veto the White House had threatened," Bingaman said.  "This is great news for New Mexico's Medicare beneficiaries."

Bingaman met with beneficiaries and doctors Santa Fe last week to discuss how the cuts will affect New Mexico. 

At Bingaman's urging, the measure included provisions that would have significantly improved assistance for low-income Americans in meeting their Medicare cost-sharing requirements.  Bingaman pressed to include a proposals to make it easier for seniors to qualify for help in paying their prescription drug premiums, change requirements to make it easier for low-income seniors to qualify for cost-sharing assistance and other similar benefits, and significantly expands initiatives that reach out to and enroll seniors in Medicare low-income programs.  

Also, at Bingaman's urging, the measure included $100 million to help pay for health care provided to Medicare recipients at Community Health Centers and millions of dollars to support care provided by psychologists to Medicare beneficiaries.  The legislation also bolsters payments to rural Medicare providers, improves Medicare chronic care services, improves preventative services provided in the Medicare program, and makes several important changes to the Medicare prescription drug program.  

Bingaman is a member of the Finance Committee and helped craft this measure.