In an effort to retain tax cuts and tax breaks proposed by President George W. Bush, congressional Republicans have proposed a fiscal year 2009 budget that would cut Medicare and Medicaid spending. (Kaiser Network)
In anticipation of the Bush administration’s tax cuts expiring at the end of 2010, Democrats have proposed a budget of $3 trillion to fund domestic programs. Yesterday, both sides of the aisle began debating competing budget proposals.
In other Medicaid news, a hospital coalition has filed suit in federal court to prevent the implementation of Medicaid rule changes that would reduce payment to “safety-net” hospitals by $5 billion over five years. From the Kaiser Network:
The rule would limit federal Medicaid payments to so that they would not exceed the cost of providing care. The rule change would apply to hospitals funded by local governments. However, the hospitals argue that the cuts would make it more difficult for public hospitals to offset the cost of treating the uninsured by increasing Medicaid charges.
A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the Bush administration’s rule would “bring greater transparency to the financing of the Medicaid program.” Hospital groups involved in the lawsuit include the American Hospital Association and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.
