Under the 2003 Medicare law, the president is required to propose a savings bill if Medicare trustees warn two consecutive years that the program will draw 45 percent of funding from the general government revenue. (Kaiser Network)
Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 231-184 to delay the president’s “trigger” bill for the rest of the 110th Congress. Democrats said they changed the rule, because the 45 percent threshold is “arbitrary” and would reduce Medicare spending or shift costs to beneficiaries. Republicans, on the other hand, are concerned about controlling Medicare spending.
Mike Leavitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said, “The Congressional Budget Office may have determined that budget gimmicks contained in Medicare legislation passed last week meet the technical requirements of the trigger law. But parliamentary sleight of hand will do nothing to resolve the enormous financial challenges presented by Medicare in the future.”