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The House overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes to the Medicare program on Thursday in the most significant bipartisan policy legislation to pass through that chamber since Republicans regained a majority in 2011. The measure, which would establish a new formula for paying doctors, increase premiums for some Medicare beneficiaries and extend a popular health insurance program for children, has already been endorsed by President Obama and awaits a vote in the Senate. (Steinhauer and Pear, 3/26)

Without congressional action, doctors would face a 21% cut in payments starting April 1. The formula, which dates back to a 1997 law designed to rein in the growth of Medicare’s costs, became politically untenable over the years, forcing Congress to override cuts through temporary patches. But lawmakers haven't been able to agree on a long-term fix until now. The agreement marks a shift for Mr. Boehner, who had eschewed dealing with Democrats in the interest of building a consensus with the most conservative members of his caucus. (Hughes, 3/26)

The Senate will take up legislation to replace a formula for reimbursing doctors who treat Medicare patients when the chamber returns from a two-week recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said early on Friday. ... Dr. Robert Wah, the president of the American Medical Association, said his group was “extremely disappointed” that the Senate vote was delayed and said that physicians would face a “devastating” cut when the current patch expires just days from now. (Hughes, 3/27)

The U.S. Senate will wait more than two weeks before acting on a bill to permanently fix the flawed formula for reimbursing Medicare physicians, after an April 1 deadline to start a 21 percent cut in payment rates. Senate Republican and Democratic leaders said early on Friday that they would take the bill up when they return on April 13 from an Easter/Passover break. (Lawder, 3/27)

They said it couldn't be done. And for more than a decade they were right. But on Thursday, staring at a deadline that could have disrupted health care to millions of seniors, the House got something done. It voted to fix the flawed formula for compensating doctors who provide services to patients under Medicare. But this time it wasn't just a patch for a few months or years — like the ones Congress has done 17 times since 2003. (Elving, 3/26)

In uncommon bipartisan harmony, the House approved a $214 billion bill Thursday permanently blocking physician Medicare cuts, moving lawmakers closer to resolving a problem that has plagued them for years. (Fram, 3/26)

The bill would repeal the current Medicare payment formula for doctors and replace it with one that would increase payments to doctors by one-half of 1% every year through 2019. After that, doctors would receive bonuses or penalties depending on performance scores from the government. Their scores would be based on the value of the care they provide rather than on the volume of patients they see. (Kelly, 3/26)

But prospects were dimming late Thursday that Senate leaders would take up the package to avert an automatic 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians. Several Republican senators voiced concern about the bill's impact on the deficit, which could preclude Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) from bringing up the bill Friday in an expedited maneuver that under Senate rules requires unanimous consent. Democrats remain concerned that the legislation reauthorizes funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, for only two years, rather than four, as many advocates and governors want. (Levey, 3/26)

The bill, H.R. 2, would replace Medicare's cost-containment formula for physician payments in place since 1997. Congress has listened to warnings that physicians might stop taking Medicare patients and voted 17 times to prevent the formula from forcing cuts in doctor fees. The existing formula would cut doctors' pay by 21 percent starting April 1. The American Medical Association, the largest U.S. doctors' organization, has been lobbying for years to change the payment system. (House, 3/27)

The bill now goes to the Senate, where Democratic-led opposition appears to be ebbing given the tsunami of support from a wide array of health care and children’s groups. In the last day, several key Senate Democrats — such as Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Dianne Feinstein of California — told reporters that they plan to support the measure. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he backs the legislation. (Haberkorn and Pradhan, 3/26)

Boehner and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi cooked up the bill together. It would cost $214 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office says, but $73 billion can be saved via spending cuts or new revenue. Boehner says it's cheaper than paying for one-year pay raises. (Fox, 3/26)

For more than a decade, doctors who treat Medicare patients have been threatened with pay cuts due to a faulty formula of how doctors are reimbursed. But in a rare bipartisan agreement, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a deal to permanently end the problem and reward quality of care, not quantity. PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill learns more from Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News. (3/27)

The House Thursday passed a bill to permanently change Medicare reimbursement formulas for doctors and other providers, and the Senate is expected to take up the bill sometime in the coming weeks. Passage represents a major bipartisan victory in a Congress that has otherwise been mired in gridlock. What is it and how did it come about? Here are some basics. (Radnofsky and Hughes, 3/26)

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "The troubled payment formula for Medicare physicians is one step closer to repeal. The House Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to scrap Medicare’s troubled physician payment formula, just days before a March 31 deadline when doctors who treat Medicare patients will see a 21 percent payment cut. Senate action could come this week as well, but probably not until the chamber completes a lengthy series of votes on the GOP’s fiscal 2016 budget package." (Carey, updated 3/26)