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 Final action came as the Senate voted 92-8 to approve the
so-called "doc fix". The House of Representatives had acted over two
weeks ago. The bill now goes to President Barack Obama, and he is
expected to sign it into law.
The measure, drafted last month by Republican House Speaker John
Boehner and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, appeared to be
the first major legislative accomplishment of the 2015-2016
Congress, suggesting some progress toward easing years of gridlock
on Capitol Hill.
In a statement, Obama applauded lawmakers for passing the bill,
saying it would strengthen the U.S. healthcare system. "I will be
proud to sign it into law," he said.
The bill would replace a 1990s formula that linked Medicare doctor
pay to economic growth, with a new formula more focused on quality
of care. It also would require means-testing of Medicare
beneficiaries so higher income people pay higher premiums.
One of the government's largest social safety net programs, Medicare
is health insurance that serves 54 million elderly and disabled
people.
 The old formula for paying Medicare doctors has been a problem for
years as health care costs outpaced economic growth. Congress had
repeatedly addressed the problem with a long series of temporary
"doc fix" patches. The new formula is intended to be a lasting
change.
The federal government warned Congress last week that it must act
before April 15 or thousands of Medicare doctors nationwide would
face a 21 percent pay cut under the old reimbursement formula.
The deadline for action actually had been April 1, but because
Medicare doctors' claims generally take at least 14 days to be paid
by the government, the pay cuts were not expected to be implemented
before April 15 - Wednesday.
The measure passed the House overwhelmingly in March but because it
expands the federal deficit, it was greeted skeptically by deficit
hawks in the Senate.
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They labeled the bill irresponsible because it would add an
estimated $141 billion to the U.S. debt over the next 10 years,
according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
But an amendment sponsored by Senator Mike Lee requiring Congress to
find ways to pay for the "doc fix" by the end of this year, failed
to pass Tuesday on a vote of 42-58.
The legislation includes a two-year extension of the Children's
Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for low-income children and a
two-year extension of funding for community health centers.
Both were high priorities for Democrats, and they tried to extend
them to four years, but their amendments failed. They also tried to
take out some anti-abortion language, but the amendments failed.
Healthcare groups were leaning hard on the Senate to approve the
measure, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argued Tuesday
for approval, noting it included more means testing of Medicare
beneficiaries.
Boehner also urged the Senate to pass the House bill on Tuesday,
saying the House had no intention of acting again on the measure if
the Senate amended it.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh,
Sandra Maler, Christian Plumb, Ken Wills and Clarence Fernandez)
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