President Bush will stand by his longstanding threat to veto Medicare legislation passed by the Senate Wednesday, the White House confirmed.

The veto will set up override votes in the House and Senate, where the legislation passed with more than the two-thirds majority needed to overcome the president’s rejection.

Nevertheless, White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters Bush would veto the measure. “[D]oes the president still intend to veto this bill? … The answer is yes,” he said.

Democrats crowed about their legislative victory Thursday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) staging a press event to formally prepare the bill for delivery to the White House.

The Democratic-authored bill cleared the Senate Wednesday in dramatic fashion as the ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) returned from cancer treatment in his home state to secure the victory for his party on the measure, which stops a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare’s fees to doctors and reduces spending on private health insurance plans in Medicare Advantage.

“Taking choices away from seniors in order to pay for the reimbursement for physicians is the wrong way to pass this bill and to extend the reimbursements that we want to see physicians get,” Fratto said.

Reid mocked the president’s position on Medicare Advantage. “If you had to list car salesmen, members of Congress and insurance companies, insurance companies would be at the bottom of the list. I'm personally comfortable with the president casting his lot with insurance companies and HMOs. We're comfortable casting our lot with the American people.”