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Medicare, Medicaid Cuts Proposed by Bush Look
Lifeless in Congress
House members squabble over their votes on
budget resolution
March 31, 2006 – Chances of Congress approving the
cuts to Medicare and Medicaid recommended by President Bush in his
budget proposal are now looking as dead as his proposal to add personal
investment accounts to Social Security. The latest blow came in the
budget resolution passed by the House Budget Committee, which did not
include these cuts. The Senate earlier ignored them. House members began
discussions yesterday on the vote on the resolution by the House, which
moderates wanting a larger cap to be sure there are not more cuts to
health care spending, according to KaiserNet.org.
Many Republicans, including the House Budget
Committee chairman, Jim Nussle, are concerned about cuts in the programs
so popular with senior citizens – the most dedicated voters. Nussle is
running for governor in Iowa.
 Capitol Hill Watch: House
Republicans, Moderates Still Discussing FY 2007 Budget Blueprint,
Including Increasing Cap on Discretionary Funding To Prevent Deeper
Health Spending Reductions
House Republicans on Thursday began discussions
about the fiscal year 2007 House budget resolution, with both moderates
and conservatives "demanding concessions before they will agree" to vote
in favor of the resolution next week, CQ Today reports (Dennis, CQ
Today, 3/30).
The House budget resolution, approved on Wednesday
by the
House Budget
Committee, includes $6.8 billion in spending reductions for
entitlement programs but excludes reductions for Medicare and Medicaid.
In addition, the House budget resolution includes
an $873 billion cap on discretionary spending requested by President
Bush. Under the discretionary spending cap, spending for health and
other nonsecurity programs would remain at about FY 2006 levels (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 3/30).
Reps. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.)
and other moderate Republicans have called for an increase in the
discretionary spending cap to ensure that health and other nonsecurity
programs receive additional funds (CQ Today, 3/30).
House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said
that he has discussed the issue with Johnson and that he believes he can
address the concerns raised by moderates without an increase in the
discretionary spending cap (Cohn, CongressDaily, 3/30). His plan to
address the concerns raised by moderate Republicans "is unclear, but in
the past funds have been shifted from defense and foreign affairs
discretionary accounts to domestic programs to assuage moderates," CQ
Today reports (CQ Today, 3/30).
However,
House
Appropriations Committee Chair Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) said
that he would not support such a plan until the Iraq war ends (CongressDaily,
3/30).
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chair of the
Republican Study
Committee, told House Republican leaders that conservatives
would not support the House budget resolution without stronger budget
enforcement mechanisms. Pence also "warned leaders against adding
spending on the House floor to appease GOP moderates," CQ Today reports
(CQ Today, 3/30).
Prospects for Approval
Boehner in a closed meeting with House Republicans on Wednesday
"stressed the need for all GOP lawmakers to come together and support
the budget once it's completed, even if they didn't get all the
provisions they wanted" because the House budget resolution "will
attract no Democratic votes and would need near-unanimous Republican
support to pass," Roll Call reports (Yachnin, Roll Call, 3/30).
However, House Republicans this week "were
privately expressing doubts the measure will even get to conference"
with the Senate, which earlier this month
approved
a resolution with "far more spending," CongressDaily reports (Cohn,
CongressDaily, 3/31).
Castle said, "There are about five or six people
I've talked to who aren't voting for anything." Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz)
said, "I don't think they have the votes yet" (CongressDaily, 3/30).
"Reprinted with
permission from kaisernetwork.org You can view the entire
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up
for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for
kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation. © 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation.
All rights reserved.”
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