Last Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill that would reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending by $10 billion over five years.
Exhibiting a stunning lack of knowledge about basic economics, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said the cuts will affect the health industry (including providers), and not the beneficiaries (Reuters). Republicans are looking to cut Medicare and Medicaid spending even more, while Democrats say they’re concerned that beneficiaries will be affected down the road.
According to Medical News Today, the package would include a revision of the formula Medicare uses to reimburse pharmacists, eliminate a “stabilization fund” created in 2003 that encourages health plans’ participation in Medicare, and increase the Medicaid rebates pharmaceutical companies pay to the federal government. The site links to several informative articles about the proposed cuts.
The package, which passed the Finance Committee by a party line vote of 11-9, is headed for the Senate Budget Committee for inclusion in the Senate’s reconciliation package.
