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Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) said he would have voted for the Medicare bill Tuesday if he’d known it was going to pass anyway. Scads of House Republicans rushed to get on the right side of a Medicare bill that passed overwhelmingly, 355-59. But not Herger. He took a little longer to rethink his decision. “Clearly, the outcome of today’s vote changed the dynamics of the situation,” Herger wrote in a mea culpa letter to the physicians the Medicare bill is designed to help. “Had I known the process would play out this way, I would have supported the House bill. And if the bill comes back to the House for final approval, I intend to fully support it,” the letter says. “Again, I thank all of you who took the time to contact me and share your thoughts on the matter. I want to encourage you to do so in the future,” Herger wrote. Herger has a strong interest in fostering the good will of the physician community. He’s vying with Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) to be the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare, next year. Camp also voted against the Medicare bill. The primary purpose of the legislation is to prevent a 10.6 percent cut to physician fees under Medicare that will take effect on July 1. Physicians have been lobbying hard to get it passed. Herger was one of just 59 Republicans to vote against the measure, even though House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) urged their conference to oppose the bill, which has drawn a veto threat from the White House. The outcome of the vote surprised just about everybody. “I am sorry about how this situation played out, and I want to explain to you as best I can my reasons for voting against the bill,” Herger wrote. The Republican leaders made a persuasive argument, according to the letter. “From my conversations with House Republican leaders, it was my understanding that the bill voted on by the House (H.R. 6331) was primarily a political exercise and had no chance of becoming law,” Herger wrote. Herger pointed to the veto threat, the narrow failure of a similar bill to advance in the Senate earlier this month and the possibility of a new, bipartisan Senate bill emerging as the reasons why the GOP leadership’s contentions seemed valid. Now, the Senate is headed toward consideration of the House-passed bill and the bipartisan negotiations have been called off. |
