Meanwhile, the Senate has also voted to reverse Bush administration cuts both in payments to physicians who treat Medicare patients and funding for premium assistance to the elderly and disabled. The administration’s plans to reduce payments by ten percent have stoked fears doctors would opt out of treating Medicare patients altogether. The vote passed by a 69-to-30, enough to withstand a presidential veto. Senator Edward Kennedy returned to the Senate to support the measure in his first vote since undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. Kennedy was received with a standing ovation and loud applause on the Senate floor.