From the ArcaMax Publishing, News & Features Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/newsheadlines/s-374239-155303
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Democrats say they're hoping to force
a vote on Medicare payment cuts to doctors after an advertising blitz
aimed at Republicans.
GOP Senate members succeeded in blocking a vote to rescind the planned
10.6-percent cut in Medicare fee reimbursements, thus preventing the
Senate from acting on a lopsided U.S. House of Representatives vote to
prevent the cuts. But an American Medical Association-backed ad
campaign blasting the Republican stance may have changed the equation,
The New York Times reported Monday.
The ads, aimed at 10 Republican senators, including seven up for
election this fall, claimed Republicans have been protecting "powerful
insurance companies at the expense of Medicare patients' access to
doctors."
U.S. President George Bush and other Republicans oppose maintaining
doctors' fees because it would reduce payments to private insurance
companies offering alternatives to the traditional government-run
Medicare program, the Times said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says he plans to force a
vote this week.