Senate Clears Bill to Permanently Change Medicare Reimbursement Formula

The Senate on Tuesday cleared a bill to set a new formula for calculating payments to doctors and other providers who treat Medicare patients, bringing to a close more than a decade of legislative patches for a system that had repeatedly threatened reductions in physician pay.

The 92-8 vote was the final stage in months of negotiations over the legislation, which was passed overwhelmingly by the House in March. President Barack Obama has said he would sign the measure into law.