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ByJimKuhnhennand Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON Ending years of last-minute fixes, President Barack Obama on Thursday signed legis- lation permanently chang- ing how Medicare pays doctors, a rare bipartisan achievement by Democrats and Republicans. The bill overhauls a 1997 law that aimed to slow Medi- care's growth by limiting re- imbursements to doctors. Instead, doctors threatened to leave the Medicare pro- gram, and that forced Con- gress repeatedly to block those reductions. Obama signed the leg- islation Thursday in front of reporters and photog- raphers, sitting alone and coatless in balmy spring weather on the patio of the White House Rose Garden. The Senate passed the bill two days ago; the House ap- proved it in March. Obama praised Repub- lican House Speaker John Boehner and House Demo- craticLeaderNancyPelosifor negotiating the legislation. He said the new law helps Medicare by giving assur- ance to doctors about their payments. "It also improves it be- cause it starts encouraging payments based on quality, not the number of tests that are provided or the number of procedures that are ap- plied but whether or not people actually start feel- ing better," Obama said. The bill blocked a 21 per- cent cut in Medicare pay- ments that was due to take effect this month. It also re- vamps how physicians will be paid in the future, by providing financial incen- tives for physicians to bill Medicare patients for their overall care, not individual office visits. WASHINGTON Ob am a si gn s Medicare doctor pay changes By Sam Hananel The Associated Press WASHINGTON Two out of three judges on a federal appeals court panel ex- pressed doubts Thursday about a legal challenge to the Obama administra- tion's far-reaching plan to address climate change. The comments came during nearly two hours of argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir- cuit in two cases challeng- ing the Environmental Pro- tection Agency's proposal to cut heat-trapping pollut- ants from the nation's coal- fired power plants that is blamed for global warming. Judges Thomas Griffith and Brett Kavanaugh seemed to agree with law- yers defending the EPA that the lawsuits are premature because the agency has not yet made the rule final. The lawsuits — one from a coalition of 15 coal-reliant states and another brought by Ohio-based Murray En- ergy Corp., the nation's largest privately held coal mining company — are part of a growing politi- cal attack from opponents who say the move will kill jobs, force coal companies to shut down plants and drive up electricity prices. At issue is whether the EPA has legal authority for its plan under the Clean Air Act. But the agency and environmental advo- cacy groups say the court shouldn't even get to that question until the EPA is- sues a final rule, expected in June or July. It was pro- posed last summer. "Typically, we're not in the business of guessing what the final rule would look like," Griffith told El- bert Lin, the attorney rep- resenting West Virginia and other states opposing the plan. "You're inviting us into a morass." Lin argued that the court doesn't need to wait because the EPA has told everyone exactly what the rule will do and states are already being forced to spend huge sums of money to get ready for it. He said it's not too soon to consider a challenge if what the EPA plans to do is illegal or un- constitutional. But Kavanaugh said it wouldbe"highlyunusual"for thecourttoconsiderthemer- its of a proposal that might end up getting changed. He and Griffith suggested oppo- nentscouldjustcomebackin a couple of months. While the court agreed to hear arguments over both the timing of the law- suits as well as legal issues, the judges could simply dis- miss the case as premature and leave the legal ques- tions for a future case. The third judge on the panel, Karen LeCraft Hen- derson, seemed more sym- pathetic to Lin, noting that it could take between 18 months and four years for states to get ready for the new rule. "That's an extraordinary type of cost right now," she said. All three judges hearing the case were appointed by Republican presidents. The rule proposed by the EPA last year requires states to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. It gives each state a customized tar- get, and the responsibility for drawing up an effective plan to meet the goal. West Virginia and other states argue that the plan to regulate carbon emis- sions from power plants is illegal because the EPA already regulates other power plant pollutants un- der a different section of the Clean Air Act. They say the law prohibits "dou- ble regulation." CLEAN AIR LAWSUITS Court skeptical of challenge to climate change plan PABLOMARTINEZMONSIVAIS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE President Barack Obama speaks at Howard University in Washington, at the university's medical center to discuss the impact of climate change on public health. By Laurie Kellman The Associated Press WASHINGTON Top con- gressional lawmakers struck a long-sought, bipar- tisan agreement Thursday for the broadest trade pol- icy pact in years, allowing President Barack Obama to negotiate trade accords for Congress' review and move forward with talks on a sweeping partnership with Pacific nations. Obama quickly said he will sign the bill if Congress passes it. "It's no secret that past trade deals haven't always lived up to their promise," Obama said in a statement. "And that's why I will only sign my name to an agree- ment that helps ordinary Americans get ahead." Chief among the chal- lenges of passing the bill are divisions within the president's own party. Lib- eral and pro-business Dem- ocrats are bitterly split over the deal's potential for cre- ating or subtracting Amer- ican jobs. Under the leg- islation, Congress gets an up-or-down vote on any such deals, but in exchange cannot make changes — a concern for labor, environ- mental and other interest groups. The divisions hover over 2016 presidential pol- itics, too, as Democratic contender Hillary Rodham Clinton kicks off her cam- paign to unite the party. House Speaker John Boehner applauded the deal but said much of the burden of its success rests with Obama. "He must secure the sup- port from his own party that's needed to ensure strong, bipartisan passage," Boehner said in a statement that was echoed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For Obama, the "fast track" legislation comes at an opportune time. He's ne- gotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which pro- poses a trade agreement in- volving the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and seven other Pa- cific rim nations. Labor unions and others say the Pacific pact would hurt U.S. job growth and encourage other countries to abuse workers and the environment. The Obama administration rejects those claims, and says U.S. goods and services must have greater access to for- eign buyers. One Democrat, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, said the agreement marked only a start and could be derailed by amendments that might be added when lawmakers consider the bill in committees or on the floor of the House. Brown and other Demo- crats who are aligned with organized labor are often highly suspicious of, or even hostile to, trade legislation. They argue such measures facilitate agreements that wind up destroying jobs in the U.S. and creating jobs in nations that lack the en- vironmental and worker safety protections that ex- ist in the United States. Traditionally, trade leg- islation has also been ac- companied by a parallel bill that provides funding under the Trade Adjust- ment Assistance program for American workers who are adversely affected by international accords. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, unveiled the parallel bill shortly after the trade agreement was announced. Wyden also introduced separate legislation to re- new an expired health care tax break for workers eligi- ble for trade adjustment assistance. The bill would provide a tax credit equal to 72.5 percent of the cost of health insurance. CONGRESS Top US lawmakers strike deal to fast-track trade deals Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! 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