The Senate approved a broad war-funding bill that also contains provisions to stop cuts to the Medicaid program by a 70-26 vote, a margin that signals to the White House that Congress could override an expected veto.
Under provisions in the bill, a one-year moratorium would be extended on the CMS regulations—issued over the past year—that reduce payments for rehabilitation services, limit outpatient services, cut graduate medical education funding and reduce payments to safety net hospitals. Earlier, the
House passed a bill doing the same thing by a veto-proof margin of 349-62.
“This is about America’s working families, and supporting struggling folks who need jobs and decent healthcare,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said in a written statement.
The Senate bill also contains a provision that rolls back the controversial Aug. 17, 2007, directive that tightens enrollment requirements for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill now goes back to the House for final approval. --
by Matthew DoBias
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