|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Senior Citizen Politics
Medicare, Medicaid Appear to Have Escaped Budget Cuts This Round: Health on the Hill
KHN Senior Correspondent Mary Agnes Carey has been investigating to understand why
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi leads a rally and news conference
to mark the 46th anniversary of the passage of Medicare in Washington Wednesday (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images). |
July 28, 2011 - Neither the Boehner nor the Reid plans include cuts to Medicare or
Medicaid. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about why that happened and what could bring these entitlements back into the
deficit-reduction conversation.
Read the transcript below or
Listen to the audio:
JACKIE JUDD: Good day, this is Health on
the Hill. I’m Jackie Judd. The ongoing political drama over raising the debt ceiling and reducing spending goes on. But the most recent
proposals - unlike earlier ones - say nothing about immediately changing or modifying Medicare or Medicaid.
Why did those programs get taken off the table? KHN senior correspondent Mary Agnes Carey
is on Capitol Hill; she’s been looking into that question. Welcome, Mary Agnes.
MARY AGNES CAREY: Thank you.
JACKIE JUDD: So the great disappearing act
of Medicare and Medicaid. What happened? How did it happen?
MARY AGNES CAREY: Of course, it’s not over
until it’s over, especially on Capitol Hill. But it’s very clear to me that Democrats don’t see it in their political interests to make any
changes in Medicare or Medicaid.
I just came from a news conference with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the House,
and several of her colleagues. They were there with supporters of Medicare to celebrate its 46th anniversary, and they made it very clear that
they are the protectors of Medicare, and they are the protectors of Medicaid.
For months, they’ve been talking loudly against changes in a House Republican budget plan
– changes to Medicare and to Medicaid – saying they’d do no such thing of any sort.
And so I think that they have no interest – and that’s why, in particular, Harry Reid,
the majority leader in the Senate, his plan would not make changes to Medicare and Medicaid, because politically this is a strong point for
them.
JACKIE JUDD: But even the Republican
package that is supposed to be voted on shortly that Speaker Boehner put together, that doesn’t include anything either.
MARY AGNES CAREY: That’s right, and because
I think that they know that, perhaps, as they go down the road, they’re going to need some Democratic support for a deficit reduction plan if
it is not strong enough for conservatives in the Republican Party to back it in the House.
And I also think that the Speaker sees the political problems right now for support for
some of the Republican proposals on Medicare and Medicaid, and they’ve seen the public reaction. They’re looking at other areas of
discretionary spending to cut; they don’t necessarily think they need to do it now.
Of course, Speaker Boehner’s proposal does have a commission of other lawmakers that
could look at entitlements down the road to cut, but I think there are certainly reasons why they haven’t touched it now.
JACKIE JUDD: You interviewed recently
seven people from very differing professional and political perspectives.
Most of them said to you that things need to get much worse for Medicare, in particular, to undergo serious changes. Where did that unanimity
come from?
MARY AGNES CAREY: The thought is that if
there is bipartisan agreement that there is pressure on Medicare to be insolvent, perhaps for a decade or less, that that’s when you’ll get
the momentum to make changes in the program.
When statements are made -- every year the Medicare trustees report comes out, and if
Medicare is solvent for 15 years or longer, for a lot of people that doesn’t seem like an emergency.
But almost everyone said that if that got to beneath a decade, and both parties looked at
it and agreed together that there had to be changes made to the program, that could create the pressure to advance some of the ideas that have
been kicked around here on Capitol Hill.
JACKIE JUDD: And yet in the past couple of
weeks, you’ve had some Democrats, you have had the Democratic president, talking about being willing to look at modifications, changes,
reductions -- whatever word you want to use -- in Medicare and Medicaid.
Has that somehow changed what can and may be discussed in the future? Will things be on
the table in the future that seemed simply inconceivable six months ago?
MARY AGNES CAREY: I think they absolutely
could be for both political and policy reasons. On the political front, I think President Obama and some Democrats do want to appeal to
independents. They want to be proactive in getting entitlement spending under control.
Everyone seems to agree they don’t want to really affect benefits for current
beneficiaries, but looking down the road, if you made a variety of changes gradually -- whether it’s a change in the eligibility age, whether
it’s asking higher-income beneficiaries to pay more, taking other policy steps such as combining Part A and B deductibles or adding copays
where they don’t exist -- this could be the beginning of a longer conversation.
It will take a lot of time and a lot of political will. But to your point, I think a lot
of things are on the table now that haven’t been there before. They’re looking at the program. The number of beneficiaries are increasing.
People are living longer on Medicare, and it’s putting financial pressure on the program. So I think that’s why these things are getting more
attention now.
JACKIE JUDD: Thank you very much, Mary
Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News.
MARY AGNES CAREY: Thank you.
|
 Some
of this
information is reprinted from
kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up
for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All
rights reserved. |
Links to More News on the Battle Over the Debt Ceiling and
Budget
 'Gang Of Six' Plan Includes Deep Health Care Cuts; Making
Social Security Solvent
Seniors, advocates focus on health care cuts; Social Security actions draw little concern - plan summary below
Jul 21, 2011
Obama Backs 'Gang Of Six' Plan That Includes Medicare, Social Security Cuts
Senate leaders, others working on backup plan to allow Obama to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a much smaller
package of spending cuts
 July
20, 2011
Senior Citizen Advocates Warn About Cuts to Entitlements in Last Minute Deal
National Association of Agencies on Aging take their message to Capitol Hill to stop cuts to Medicaid and Medicare
By Juan E. Gastelum
 July
20, 2011
Senior League Flatly Opposes Social Security Cuts for Those 50+, But Cites Alternatives
 Proposals include raising payroll tax cap, raising retirement age, adding public workers
July 18, 2011
 President Obama Calls for 'Meaningful Changes' To Medicare, Medicaid (Video)
‘we have an obligation to make sure that we make those changes that are required to make it sustainable over the long
term’
July 12, 2011
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
