Congressman Cohen's Statement on Override of the President’s Veto of Medicare Bill

Last week, we witnessed a true profile in courage when Senator Ted Kennedy returned from treatment for brain cancer from Massachusetts to cast his vote in favor of this vital Medicare bill. I was quite moved to see the “Lion of the Senate,” a lifelong crusader for health care, emerge in the Senate chamber accompanied by his son, our colleague Congressman Patrick Kennedy (RI-01), to raucous applause from both sides of the aisle.

H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, has been endorsed by all of the major seniors’ organizations, disabilities groups and received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, as evidenced by the vote to override today. In vetoing these modest health care reforms, President Bush showed once again how out of touch he is with concerns and priorities of the American people.

This legislation will:
• replace a 10.6 percent payment cut for thousands of doctors in Medicare with a 1.1 percent increase;
• extend expiring provisions and bonus payments critical to rural communities and providers;
• expand the preventive services that are available to our seniors;
• phase mental health parity into the Medicare program;
• and improve protections and assistance programs for our low-income seniors.

Preventing these Medicare cuts isn’t a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It’s an issue of protecting and preserving the health care that over 44 million seniors count on, depend on, and deserve.

Our message to the President was unambiguous: We will stand with our seniors and our health care providers, our military families and our disabled. And when it comes to protecting and preserving the health care they depend on, we will put aside party politics, and we will stand together.

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Contact:
Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, 202-225-3265
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, 202-225-3265