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Texas Senators Say They Would Override a Veto on Medicare Legislation
By Robert T. Garrett, Dallas Morning News
July 11, 2008
Texas' two senators, caught in a White House melee with Democrats over Medicare, say President Bush can fight on. They aren't.
U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday that they'll vote to override Mr. Bush's expected veto of a bill to void a 10.6 percent pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients.
The legislation passed the Senate on Wednesday by a veto-proof margin of 69-30. Last month, the House passed the bill 355-59, well above the two-thirds margin needed for an override.
"I would vote to override," Mr. Cornyn said in a conference call with reporters. "In light of the lopsided vote in the Senate, I would think maybe the president might reconsider."
Ms. Hutchison also is "going to vote to override," said spokesman Matt Mackowiak.
Both Texas Republicans said they reluctantly voted for the bill to avoid possible refusals by doctors to see Medicare patients.
Bush spokesman Tony Fratto, though, indicated Mr. Bush would veto the bill because he objected to the way Congress paid for averting the physician pay cut – by reducing payments to private health insurance plans known as Medicare Advantage.
"Taking choices away from seniors in order to pay for the reimbursements for physicians is the wrong way to pass this bill and to extend the reimbursements that we want to see physicians get," Mr. Fratto said.
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