Washington ( CNN ) In a broad bipartisan vote , the Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a Medicare reform bill that includes a permanent solution to the `` doc fix , '' a method the government has used to ensure payments to Medicare providers will keep up with inflation . The bill , which passed 92 to 8 , also includes a two-year extension of a popular children 's health insurance program . The issue of payments to Medicare providers has been a thorny issue for years . Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah called passage of the bill a `` major , major accomplishment . '' `` Tonight , the Senate is voting to retire the outdated , inefficiency-rewarding , common sense-defying Medicare reimbursement system , '' said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon , the top Democrat on the Finance Committee just before the final vote . The House approved the same bill overwhelmingly more than two weeks ago and President Barack Obama is expected to sign it . Senate passage came just hours before cuts to physicians would have taken place since the last temporary `` doc fix '' had already expired . Some conservative senators , including Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz of Texas , balked at the more than $ 200 billion price of the bill and pushed an amendment to have the costs offset . The bill , `` institutionalizes and expands Obamacare policies that harm patients and their doctors while adding roughly half a trillion dollars to our long-term debt within two decades , '' Cruz said in a statement . `` Any deal should be fully paid for and include significant and structural reforms to Medicare . '' But that amendment was defeated , as were several others from each party that came up for votes . Earlier , House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio warned the Senate not to change the bill . `` Unless the Senate passes the House-passed 'doc fix , ' significant cuts to physicians ' payments will begin tomorrow , '' Boehner said . `` We urge the Senate to approve the House-passed bill without delay . '' Cruz voted against the bill , as did Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida , another Republican running for president . GOP presidential contender Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted for the bill .
Bill passes 92 to 8 ; passage came just hours before cuts to physicians would have taken place . GOP presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio vote against the bill , candidate Rand Paul votes for it .