GOP Governors Lobby Deficit Panel On Cuts
Four Republican governors sent a letter to the super committee urging them – as they work to identify ways to reach at least $1.2 trillion in 10-year budget savings – to rule out any proposals that would shift Medicaid costs from the federal government to the states.
The Washington Post: Republican Governors Submit Recommendations To Debt Super Committee
Four GOP governors sent a letter Monday to the congressional joint committee tasked with drafting a plan to reduce the country's debt, urging the 12-member panel to rule out tax increases and any proposals that would shift Medicaid costs from the federal government to the states (Sonmez, 10/24).
Politico: GOP Governors Lobby Super Committee On Cuts
Republican governors are leaning on the super committee to cut spending by rewriting Medicaid laws. In a letter sent to super committee co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) Monday and signed by Govs. Haley Barbour (Miss.), Bob McDonnell (Va.), Chris Christie (N.J.) and Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.), the Republican Governors Association asked the deficit cutting panel to incorporate more than two dozen Medicaid changes proposed in a September plan that the RGA submitted to the super committee (Allen, 10/24).
The Hill: GOP Governors Oppose Obama Plan To Cut Medicaid Spending
Republican governors on Monday urged the congressional super committee to consider major changes to Medicaid, but not the cuts in federal spending that President Obama has proposed. The Republican Governors Association said in a letter to the super committee that Obama's proposal would simply shift costs to the states. Democratic governors also oppose Obama's plan, for the same reason (Baker, 10/24).
Meanwhile, the super committee deliberations may be causing unusual allies –
Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Defense And Docs: Perfect Together
As physicians seek to forestall cuts in Medicare payments, their interests may be aligned with the defense industry as both press the super committee to strike a deal (Carey, 10/24).
And in other health policy news from Capitol Hill –
CQ HealthBeat: Health Care Industry Seeks End Of Medicare Payment Withholding — But Offsets Uncertain
Hospitals, health care plans and doctors are lobbying for legislation to eliminate a legal provision that would take 3 percent out of Medicare payments to protect federal revenues from tax cheats. But despite the legislation's likely passage in the House later this week, it is unclear how it will fare in the Senate. The uncertainty in the Senate stems not from objections on policy grounds, but from questions about how to offset the cost. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that erasing the provision, passed under a 2006 law, would require $11 billion over 10 years in spending cuts or tax hikes to avoid adding to the federal debt (Reichard, 10/24).