Ted Kennedy returns to Senate to break Republican Medicare filibuster

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/415
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) returned to the floor of the Senate Wednesday afternoon for the first time since undergoing surgery for a brain tumor on June 2. He was greeted with a raucous standing ovation as he entered to break a Republican filibuster on proceeding with a major Medicare bill without further debate or amendments.

The Senate Democrats were joined by some Republicans but ultimately fell one vote short when they voted for cloture on the bill before the July 4 recess.

If the bill did not pass, reimbursement rates for doctors who treat Medicare patients would have dropped 10.6%. Instead, the bill raises rates slightly, partly by cutting the Medicare Advantage programs, programs where Medicare benefits are received through private insurance plans. According to a DowJones story:

Many Republicans are concerned about cuts to Medicare Advantage, which is strongly supported by the Bush administration. Private insurers benefiting from the Medicare Advantage program -- which include Humana Inc. (HUM), UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Aetna Inc. (AET) -- have lobbied heavily against any cuts.

CNN speculated earlier in the day that Kennedy may return if Democrats were not certain they had the 60 votes to break the filibuster. The vote was ultimately 69-30, with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) absent.

C'mon people - it's Ted Kennedy

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/washington/10medicare.html?th&emc=th

Maybe people read it yesterday. I liked the NY Times narrative explaining the Repubs who switched votes just before the end of roll call -

"Others who switched their votes at the last minute on Wednesday, just before the roll call ended, were Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Mel Martinez of Florida, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John W. Warner of Virginia."

It's ultimately just a corporate subsidy to health insurance corporations. The only reason Advantage was instituted was as a way to funnel money to HMOs as a freebie subsidy. Ultimately, it's far cheaper to cut out for-profit middlemen and simply deliver care directly to the patient rather than through an HMO that invariably tacks on a profit mark-up on services delivered.