WASHINGTON — Racing the calendar, Senate leaders are pushing toward congressional approval of a bipartisan compromise that reshapes how Medicare pays physicians as lawmakers return from a spring break tangled up in domestic and foreign policy disputes.
Republican and Democratic senators are trying to influence an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, and there’s a fight over abortion. Also, President Barack Obama is awaiting Senate action on his long-delayed nomination of federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to become attorney general.
For Senate Democrats, the two-week break proved tumultuous.
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced he will not run for re-election in 2016. Reid anointed Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to succeed him, creating uncertainty over the rest of their leadership posts.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on federal corruption charges and relinquished his job as top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just as it plays a pivotal role on Iran.
The Medicare doctors’ legislation presents Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with his most pressing problem. The $214 billion package would permanently retool how Medicare reimburses physicians. It also would provide money for children’s health, community health centers, low-income patients and rural hospitals.
The normally divided House rallied behind the measure last month with a 392-37 vote. Eager to signal that Republicans running the Senate can do so effectively, McConnell said the bill would be handled “very quickly” when lawmakers return, and he envisioned passage “by a very large majority.”
The measure would block a 21 percent cut in physicians’ Medicare reimbursements that technically took effect April 1. By law, the federal agency that writes those checks can’t do so until 14 days after it receives a claim, and it plans to start making payments at the lower rate Wednesday.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services makes roughly 4 million Medicare payments to doctors daily.
The Senate returns to work Monday, which gives leaders two days to finish the bill or risk fielding complaints from physicians and seniors. Doctors say payment cuts make them less likely to treat patients of Medicare, which helps the elderly pay medical bills.
McConnell’s biggest problem is that senators from both parties are clamoring to amend the legislation.
