UPDATE: Senate Medicare Vote 'Saves the Day' for Seniors, Doctors, and Service Members

Today, just two weeks after falling one vote short, I am proud to report that the United States Senate has, in the nick of time, found the votes to pass a bill that will avert a health care train wreck that would have affected millions of Americans enrolled in the Medicare and Tricare programs.

On account of an outdated Medicare formula that desperately needs fixing, Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors were scheduled to drop over 10% on July 1st. As a result, many of the over half a million Colorado seniors on Medicare were at risk of finding that their doctors could no longer afford to treat them. It would have also affected tens of thousands of the service members and their families who are on Tricare, serving our country, and stationed in Colorado at places like Fort Carson and Buckley Air Force Base.

Over the last two weeks, millions of seniors, doctors, and patients have been on a hunt for the one more vote that we needed to pass this bill.

This afternoon, thanks to their efforts, and thanks in large part to United States Senator Ted Kennedy’s heroic return from a seven week medical absence, the Senate approved H.R.6331, the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act, by a vote of 69 to 30. The bill replaces the drastic 10.6 percent Medicare reimbursement rate cuts for doctors with a 1.1 percent increase.

The bill also includes a number of other important measures, including ones that will help rural hospitals, independent pharmacies, and community health centers across our state, in places like Greeley, Grand Junction, and Alamosa. This bipartisan bill was the product of months of work in the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am a member.

We still have more work to do, though. First, the President needs to sign H.R. 6331, which passed the House by a vote of 355-59. Then we must get back to work on strengthening the Medicare program and undertaking the broader reforms to our health care system that we so desperately need in this country.

Today’s vote was a victory for America’s seniors, doctors, and service members.

Sincerely,

Ken Salazar
United States Senator

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Senator Ken Salazar's DC office is located at 702 Hart Senate office building, Washington, DC 20510. He has Colorado regional offices in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Ft. Morgan, Pueblo, Durango, Grand Junction and Alamosa. For contact and mailing info, click here.