HR 6331 - Can We Avoid the Veto?

As I am sure you are aware, the Senate passed a cloture vote on HR 6331 by a margin of 69 to 30 with Senators Hutchison and Cornyn voting YES! Currently we are waiting for President Bush to veto the bill (as he has promised to do on many occasions) or to sign it into law. Bush has 10 days to make a decision; if no action has been taken in 10 days, the bill becomes law. The AMA expects a veto on Saturday.

If the President does veto the bill, Congress will have a chance to override. For this to happen, the Senate and the House will need to pass the override with a 2/3 (two-thirds) majority. This is entirely possible! HR 6331 passed in the House by a count of 355-30 which well exceeds the necessary margin. The squeaker will be the Senate, which passed the bill with a tally of 69 Ayes and 30 Nays, only 2 votes in excess of the 2/3 majority needed. The good news, though, is that Senators Hutchison and Cornyn have promised to support the override. Unfortunately, we never know how anyone will vote until the votes are in.

The success (read: relative success) of this bill is somewhat surprising for a number of reasons. First, the Senate couldn't pass a similar cloture vote before the holiday weekend. Second, republican Representatives and Senators voted in favor of this bill dispite threats from the President to veto and the fact that it takes funding away from Medicare Advantage plans (the private side of Medicare). Third, similar bills have been proposed with no success. We were even poised to see a bill introduced in the Senate combining Grassley's and Baucus' bills promoting a "both sides of the fence" fix.

The momentum has been pushed into medicine's favor and that can only be attributed to the drive and constant pressure from the medical community. The "never stop fighting" attitude has begun to accompish its goal of protecting the industry, the patient, and the physician. Keep up the strong work, we only have a few more hurdles in this race. Unfortunately, we have way too many races ahead of us before we reach the podium.