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 The measure drafted and driven forward by Republican House Speaker
John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi would fix a
long-standing problem with how Medicare pays doctors. It would also
make adjustments to the health program for seniors.
The House vote was 392-37.
The Senate may not act until it returns from a two-week recess that
starts this weekend. Some senators in both parties had concerns
about the bill, but it also had strong support.
Democratic President Barack Obama praised the House passage and said
he hoped the Senate would approve the measure too, because he wants
to sign it.
"I called the Speaker, John Boehner, and the Democratic Leader,
Nancy Pelosi, and I said, congratulations, this is how Congress is
supposed to work. They came together; they compromised," Obama said
during a trip to Birmingham, Alabama. "This is great. Let's do more
of this."
The Boehner-Pelosi measure would replace a 1990s formula that linked
doctor pay to economic growth with a new one more focused on quality
of care. It also would require means-testing of Medicare
beneficiaries so higher income people pay higher premiums.
 The legislation was designed to spare Medicare doctors a 21-percent
pay cut effective April 1 under the existing payment formula. If the
Senate does not act until mid-April, doctors might still be able to
avoid pay cuts because Medicare doctors' claims generally take at
least 14 days to be paid.
One of the government's largest social safety net programs, Medicare
is health insurance that serves 54 million elderly and disabled
people.
Under the plan, a Medicare recipient with annual income of between
$133,000 and $160,000 would see their Medicare premium share
increase from 50 to 65 percent, and a recipient with annual income
between $160,000 and $214,000 would pay 75 percent rather than 65
percent.
But the conservative Heritage Foundation's Robert Moffit said this
was "timid" reform affecting just 6 percent of the Medicare
population.
BOOST FOR HEALTHCARE COMPANIES
Wall Street analysts, who have been skeptical about the bill, said
it would help healthcare services companies whose revenues depend on
government Medicare reimbursements.
More broadly, the bill could be a positive sign for chances of
bipartisan agreement on coping with health care industry changes
that could come if the U.S. Supreme Court in June rules against
federal subsidies under Obamacare, said analyst Brian Tanquilut at
investment bank Jefferies in a research note.
He added that this could help the stock prices of hospital
companies, such as Community Health Systems, HCA Holdings Inc and
Tenet Healthcare.
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The proposal would add $141 billion to the U.S. deficit over 10
years, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.
Its overall cost would be about $214 billion, but about $73 billion
would be offset through savings in the bill, CBO said.
Despite the addition to the deficit, Boehner said it was the first
real reform to U.S. "entitlement" programs in nearly 20 years and
marked a start to solving the U.S. "spending problem."
"This is what we can accomplish when we are focused on common
ground," Boehner said on the House floor. Pelosi said she hoped the
bipartisan effort "will be a model of things to come."
CHILDREN'S HEALTH PROGRAM A KEY
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.
However, some Senate Democrats have expressed concern about
anti-abortion language in the bill and their desire for four years,
not two, of CHIP funding. And conservative Republican Senator Jeff
Sessions said Thursday he was concerned because the bill was not
totally paid for.
Congressional gridlock in recent years has decreased the chances of
any bill's becoming law.
Most of those voting against the bill in the House were conservative
Republicans opposed to the deficit impact. "You obviously have got
to be concerned about the cost when you have a debt situation the
way we do," said Representative Jim Jordan.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Caroline Humer; Additional
reporting by David Lawder and Julia Edwards; Editing by Kevin
Drawbaugh and Diane Craft)
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