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More Cuts in Medicare Coming Monday in Bush 2007 Budget
New York Times reporting Bush will target spending
linked to aging population
Feb. 5, 2006 – Senior citizens, still reeling from
billions of dollars cut from Medicare and Medicaid by the Congress last
week, are in for more bad news this week. The New York Times has
published articles about the 2007 budget to be proposed by President
Bush tomorrow and says there are more big cuts to Medicare ahead,
including a provision that increases "premiums for high-income people,
beyond those already scheduled to take effect next year."
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Jan. 26, 2006 – The Republican chairman of the
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Even Wealthy Seniors Concerned About Health Care
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Jan. 23, 2006 - Even wealthy Americans are
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House Passes Budget Bill with
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Feb. 1, 2006 – It's done. The House has passed and
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There are also reports that payments by Medicare to
nursing homes, hospitals and other service providers will be frozen or
reduced.
"Despite the failure of his plan to overhaul Social
Security last year, Mr. Bush has signaled that he intends to curb rapid
increases in federal spending linked to the aging of the population,
according to the New York Times report by Robert Pear, published on
Saturday. (Click
here to full story)
Pear pointed to the statement by Bush in the State
of the Union - "The retirement of the baby boom generation will put
unprecedented strains on the federal government."
Another signal of the coming cuts in Medicare came
on Wendesday, Jan. 25, when Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg
(R-N.H.) called for spending reductions in the fiscal year 2007 budget,
"particularly in health care programs" such as Medicare, according to CQ
Today.
According to CQ Today, Gregg said, "I'm not here to
be a potted plant. ... If we're going to do a budget, it's going to be a
serious budget." Gregg said that he expects the budget proposal from
Bush to include spending reductions, adding, "We can't afford our
government as it is currently structured."
Gregg also rejected the opinion that Republicans
should avoid spending reductions in an election year, adding, "As
Republicans, we should look at it as a strength, not a weakness."
In the Saturday story highlighting the Medicare
cuts, Pear wrote, "Administration officials, Congressional aides and
lobbyists said the president was contemplating a package of proposals
that would cut the projected growth in Medicare spending by $30 billion
to $35 billion in the next five years. That represents less than 1.5
percent of total Medicare spending in those years. But whether Congress
has the appetite to trim popular benefit programs in an election year is
unclear."
Pear wrote a more detail story published in the
Sunday New York Times that opened with "President Bush wants to spend
more on bird flu and the physical sciences next year, but would freeze
the budget of the National Institutes of Health and would slightly cut
federal support for research on cancer and heart disease, two of the
leading killers of Americans, budget documents show." (Click
here to full story)
Pear reports the National Institutes of Health will
get the same budget for 2007 that they had in 2006, but 18 of the 19
institutes, including the National Institute on Aging, will see their
budgets reduced. The one institute to get more is the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, "which is leading research on bird
flu and biological terrorism."
Another cut certain to concern seniors is a $40
million reduction for the National Cancer Institute, which is $71
million less than 2005, according to Pear.
Pear says Bush is also requesting $21 million less
for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which is $21 million
less than the current budget and $40 million less than in 2005.
"The budget says, 'Chronic diseases such as heart
disease, cancer and diabetes are the leading causes of death and
disability in the United States, accounting for 70 percent of all
deaths,'" according to Pear.
"But the president's budget would cut spending for
programs that seek to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy
behaviors. Congress provided $900 million for those programs in 2005.
Mr. Bush requested $840 million for 2006; Congress provided $839
million. Mr. Bush is now requesting $819 million for 2007."
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