Bipartisan bill HR 6331 passes regardless of presidential veto

The Senate just joined the House in voting to override the President's
veto of H.R. 6331 with a vote of 70 to 26. The legislation was enacted
into law instantaneously, pursuant to the effective dates in statute.

This vote marks an historic moment in the existence in KCP. Since its
founding in 2003, KCP has sought long-overdue reform to the Medicare
ESRD program. In 2004, the community joined forces for the first time
to develop and support comprehensive kidney care reform -- The ESRD
Modernization Act. With the help of our House and Senate champions, the
legislation was revised and renamed The Kidney Care Quality and
Improvement Act in 2005. Then, in 2007, the community came together
around a quality / value-based purchasing initiative and with the
leadership of our Senate and House champions, supported the Kidney Care
Quality and Education Act. (At its high point, our legislation had 191
cosponsors in the House and 34 in the Senate.) These efforts culminated
in the inclusion of favorable provisions, including the important
patient education provisions and an annual update mechanism, in three
pieces of legislation this year -- S. 3101, The Medicare Improvements
for Patients and Providers Act; S. 3118 Preserving Access to Medicare
Act, and H.R. 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers
Act.