(Bloomberg) — The Senate passed and sent to President Barack Obama legislation to avert a pay cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients, just hours before reductions would start affecting physicians.

The Senate voted 92-8 in favor of the measure after rejecting amendments that would have required additional House action.

"The reductions in doctors' reimbursement would take effect at midnight tonight, so I think there's a bipartisan desire to move forward," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters Tuesday before the measure passed. Afterward, in a statement, he termed the bill "a sensible compromise."

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