Medicare plan could face tough test in Congress

[Judi Lynn]

Medicare plan could face tough test in Congress
Mon Feb 6, 2006 3:18 PM ET

By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's budget for the coming fiscal year would wring nearly $36 billion in savings from Medicare over five years -- if Congress decides to tangle with hometown hospitals in an election year.

Medicare, the federal health plan for the elderly and disabled, faces growing financial pressures as the baby boomers retire. The number of Americans over age 65 is projected to roughly double to about 70 million in the next 25 years.

White House budget chief Josh Bolten said Medicare's growth will be "unsustainable" if Congress does not act. "We do not need to cut Medicare, but we do need to slow its growth," he told reporters, adding that Medicare spending would rise about 7.5 annually instead of 7.8 percent.

Bush's proposed savings over five years mostly come from trimming payment increases to hospitals while freezing payments to nursing homes and some home health services. The independent Medpac advisory panel has made similar proposals.
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http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-02-06T201815Z_01_N0677525_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-BUDGET-MEDICARE.xml

[meti57b]

1. More people die from lack of medical attention than from terrorist attacks

I cannot understand why that is so hard for some people to see.

[triguy46]

3. They'd rather kill foreigners than help those who most need it.

They have hearts like peach pits. cold and hard. No compassionate in this conservatism.

[Tempest]

2. The Repugs might as well go for it

They're going to get creamed in November when the new drug bill cutoff for prescriptions hit seniors in the early fall.

There will be a lot of seniors racking up thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses in the fall while they wait for the Medicade insurance to kick in.