The Senate on Thursday voted 92-6 to approve a $257.5 billion supplemental war appropriations bill (HR 2642) with a provision that would delay for one year six new Medicaid regulations proposed by the Bush administration, CongressDaily reports (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/27).
The House passed the legislation on June 19.
The bill includes $21.1 billion in domestic spending (Rogin, CQ Today, 6/26). The legislation includes $4.6 billion for Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals (Kane, Washington Post, 6/27).
The bill originally had included $157 million for six Louisiana hospitals that experienced financial losses after Hurricane Katrina, but the final version did not include the funds (Shields, Baton Rouge Advocate, 6/27).
President Bush likely will sign the legislation next week (Washington Post, 6/27).