WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono, both Hawai'i Democrats, voted for a bill today to stop a scheduled July 1 cut of 10.6 percent in Medicare payments to physicians.

The bill, which the House approved 355-59 despite a veto threat from President Bush, now goes to the Senate for further action.

Hirono said, "These cuts would endanger access to Medicare service for some of Hawai'i's most vulnerable citizens, especially in rural communities on the neighbor islands."

Abercrombie said cuts in reimbursement rates for doctors and other health-care providers are leaving fewer doctors willing to accept and treat Medicare patients.

"This bill also provides needed help to lower-income Medicare recipients," Abercrombie said. "We've raised the amount of income or assets a senior citizen can have and still quality for Medicare premium assistance."

The congressman said the bill also addresses a problem threatening the viability of Hawai'i and Tennessee hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured or Medicaid patients.

Those hospitals were inadvertently left out of a federal program that reimburses them for treating indigent and Medicaid patients, Abercrombie said.

The bill would pay for the change by cutting payments for private health insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans.

Abercrombie and other Democrats said the payments are 12 percent higher than costs in the regular Medicare program.

Under the bill, doctors and other medical service providers who are delinquent in their federal income taxes would have the back taxes deducted from their Medicare reimbursement.