tazzygirl
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Amid concerns about the fast-rising expenditures on health care, the key House bill cuts $539 billion from Medicare payments over 10 years, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Senate Finance Committee bill cuts $460 billion.
Medicare Advantage
The single biggest target for cuts is Medicare Advantage, a popular program in which the government pays insurers to provide Medicare services.
And that prompts the biggest single worry, shared by key Democrats, that the overhaul will actually result in seniors losing some extra benefits that insurers offer, along with basic Medicare services.
The House bill reduces future payments to this program by $156 billion, the Senate bill by $123 billion.
Payment reductions
Another prime target are the future expected increases in Medicare payments to hospitals and other care providers.
By paying less than the predicted increase, the House bill would save $196 billion and the Senate bill $182 billion.
Health industry trade groups agreed to the reductions earlier this year, saying they could afford them by working more efficiently and by switching from paper to digital record-keeping.
Hospitals, which represent the biggest cost of Medicare, have said they are willing to forgo more than $80 billion in Medicare payment hikes.
Improving care
Other savings come for a variety of proposals in the two bills to change the way health care is delivered and paid for by Medicare over time.
One proposal sets up "accountable care organizations" of doctors, nurses and others to reduce costs, at an estimated $4.9 billion savings.
Another would encourage hospitals to reduce patient readmissions soon after release, saving as much as $19 billion.
And both bills take aim at home health care agencies. The House bill cuts payments $34 billion over 10 years, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.
Past experience
The cuts to Medicare might seem dramatic, said Tricia Neuman, a Medicare expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation, but past experience shows Medicare can afford it.
In 1997, Congress cut 12 percent from Medicare, compared with the House bill's 3 percent cut and Senate bill's 5 percent.
"We didn't see hospital closures," Baker said. "We didn't see people being turned away for Medicare services."
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/lawmakers-eye-medicare-trims-to-pay-for-health-overhaul-1.1499818
Maybe that helps.
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RE: Health Care Bill passes the House! - 
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