The U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-34 today to approve a fiscal 2010 defense appropriations bill that includes a provision delaying Medicare physician payment cuts until March 2010. Without congressional action, physicians face a 21% payment cut on Jan. 1 under the current Medicare physician fee schedule. The measure now moves to the Senate, which failed last month to advance a separate bill (S. 1776) to permanently fix the physician pay formula after opponents argued it would have added to the federal deficit.