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Thirty-three Republicans and four Democrats opposed the Medicare bill negotiated by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The Republicans in opposition consisted of fiscal hawks who didn't want to vote for a measure that would add to the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would cost $214 billion over the next decade, with $73 billion of that total offset with spending cuts or new revenue. (Marcos, 3/26)

A deal passed by the House of Representatives today with large margins from both parties would put an end to decades of last-minute patches to the Medicare payment system, a procedure that has happened so many times it gained its own nickname, the “Doc Fix.” Many are looking at the agreement, struck by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), as a return to the way Congress used to do business. To some critics of the deal, though, that’s precisely the problem. (Garver, 3/26)

Fees paid to doctors who treat Medicare patients could drop sharply at the end of the month, the result of an impasse in the U.S. Senate over a bill that would prevent the 21 percent decline in payments. Connecticut's five House members voted Thursday for the legislation; but its Democratic senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, aren’t sold on the bill, objecting to its anti-abortion language and how the legislation would extend a children's health program. (Radelat, 3/26)