Massachusetts Medical Law Report Blog

The Medicare fee cut can’t win, even if it took Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, despite battling a brain tumor, to seal the deal.

“I return to the Senate today to keep a promise to our senior citizens and that’s to protect Medicare,” Kennedy said in a statement . “Win, lose or draw, I wanted to be here. I wasn’t going to take the chance that my vote could make the difference.”

And what a difference it made for physicians who were on the edge of their seats, fearing that this year the scheduled 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments.

Casting the 60th vote — the one needed to secure a veto-proof margin — Kennedy’s dramatic entrance onto the Senate floor today encouraged several other Democrats to cast their votes to halt the cut.

In fact, the vote means a fee increase, adding a 0.5 percent increase for the rest of 2008 and a 1.1 percent increase for 2009.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a statement: “Common sense prevailed, and a crisis in care has been avoided. The Senate did the right thing for our senior citizens and our physicians. A cut that large in reimbursements would have needlessly jeopardized access to health care for seniors, as well as endanger the viability of physician practices.”