Congress Introduces Administration's Medicare Trigger Bill

As required by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, House and Senate leaders yesterday introduced legislation proposed by the administration to respond to a Medicare funding warning issued by the program’s trustees last April. According to the administration, the legislation (H.R. 5480/S. 2662) takes an approach to strengthening Medicare that includes limits on means testing for Part D premiums and medical liability costs; improved health information technology and electronic medical records; transparency in price and quality information; and incentives for providers to deliver and Medicare beneficiaries to choose high-quality, low-cost health care.

At the same time, the president’s fiscal year 2009 budget proposes more than $182 billion in cuts to the Medicare program over five years, $137 billion of which would come from hospitals. Reps. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Phil English (R-PA) and Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) are asking fellow lawmakers to urge congressional budget leaders to reject hospital cuts when they mark-up a budget blueprint.

Source: AHA News