House Speaker John Boehner says he and top Senate Democrat Harry Reid have reached an agreement on legislation to forestall a looming 24 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors.

The Ohio Republican said the legislation would fix the problem for 12 months and the House will vote on it Thursday.

Because of a flawed formula dating to 1997, Medicare doctors are threatened with big fee cuts almost every year. Congress has always stepped in to prevent the cuts and must act by Monday to avoid them.

New Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wants to keep working on a permanent solution to the problem,

(AP)