Congressional budget committee leaders are under pressure to reject budget cuts in Medicare and Medicaid expenditures proposed by the Bush administration in its fiscal year 2009 budget plan and overturn Medicaid funding cuts planned for May.
Earlier this week, a letter signed by 264 Representatives and 59 Senators urged the committees to rethink proposed federal program cuts as they work on a final FY 2009 budget.
In addition, several hospital organizations have unveiled an advertising campaign intended to bring public pressure to counteract the cuts included in the budget proposed by President Bush.
The letter, written by Reps. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) and Phil English (R-Pa.), also blasts the long-term cuts projected under the administration’s budget, which was released February 4.
The letter said the president’s proposed budget outlines a roadmap for reducing Medicare funding by $182 billion in fiscal years 2009 to 2013 and $18 billion in reductions in Medicaid spending over the same period. Reductions in hospitals’ Medicare payments during that time would total $135 billion, the letter said.
“Among the many cuts included in the proposal: Hospitals’ Medicare inpatient and outpatient inflation updates would be eliminated for the next three years, with updates lagging inflation every year thereafter,” the letter noted.
The budget also includes reductions in indirect medical education adjustments to teaching hospitals and payments to disproportionate share hospitals and rural facilities.
More pressure is expected to come from advertisements to be placed in publications that are published on Capitol Hill. That campaign, announced Monday, will target overturning reductions slated for Medicaid on May 25 that would cut funding for safety net hospitals, teaching hospitals and outpatient treatment centers.
Sponsors for the ads include the American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Federation of American Hospitals, National Association of Children’s Hospitals and National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.