House approves two-year Medicare 'doc fix'

The House voted 234-193 Tuesday evening to approve a payroll tax extenders package that includes a two-year "fix" to the formula for Medicare payments to doctors. 

President Obama has threatened to veto the legislation, which is expected to die in the Democrat-controlled Senate on Wednesday. Without congressional action on the Sustainable Growth Rate, physicians will see a 27.4 percent cut to their Medicare rates starting Jan. 1.

House Democrats opposed among things some of the offsets for the $38 billion fix, including raising Medicare premiums on seniors by 15 percent starting in 2017 and slashing the healthcare reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund by $8 billion. Only 10 Democrats ended up supporting the bill.