Medicare and Medicaid funding may be cut by hundreds of millions

Medicare and Medicaid funding may be cut by hundreds of millions (Alberta Times) As the Congressional Debt Reduction Committee looks for ways to drastically cut spending...

(Alberta Times)

As the Congressional Deficit Reduction Committee looks for ways to drastically cut spending, President Obama is expected to propose hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. Republicans are "elated" about this, while many Democrats are worried that Obama's proposals will lead to further reductions in funding for these two programs. Obama made it clear in a speech to a joint session of Congress last week that he proposed a plan to create jobs and revitalize the U.S. economy, but disagreed with some Democrats' opposition to reforming Medicare and Medicaid. The New York Times reports that almost no Democrats oppose reforming the two welfare programs. But many Democrats say that if Obama puts forward a proposal next week to cut funding for the two programs by 300 to 500 billion dollars over ten years, the proposal will pave the way for even deeper cuts in the two programs by Congress's newly established deficit reduction committee. They said that many Republican members of Congress support a budget bill that would provide subsidies for those enrolled in private health insurance plans and significantly modify the content of Medicare. Democrats hope to use the Medicare issue to attack Republicans in the 2012 election. Obama's proposal will weaken the Democrats' ability to attack Republicans. Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.) said: "We have some differences with the Medicare and Medicaid plans proposed by the president, and we would rather raise taxes than cut funding for these programs." Cleaver also said that Obama's proposal prevents Democrats from using these two program issues to attack Republicans. Health policy experts and lobbyists share similar views.