Hit on Medicare limited. Hit on Defense is bigger.

[RandySF]

EDITORIAL: if anything can be called a "silver lining".



Democrats won't like the fact that Medicare could be exposed to automatic cuts, but the size of the Medicare cuts is limited and they are designed to be taken from Medicare providers, not beneficiaries.

Two sources briefed on the framework say the automatic cuts would hit Defense spending harder than Medicare. A Republican briefed on the framework says this will be unacceptable to many Republicans because it could force them to face a choice between accepting tax increases (if that is what the committee recommends) or automatic cuts that would gut the Pentagon's budget.


http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/07/white-house-republicans-strike-tenative-deal-to-raise-debt-ceiling-.html

[Bluebear]

1. Hits on Medicare providers will trickle down to beneficiaries

[readmoreoften]

2. +1. When there are 50% less doctors accepting Medicaid, it'll be a big problem.

[liberal N proud]

9. It is the only place trickle down works

Cuts to benefits and rising prices.

[Dragonfli]

3. There is also the second round of austerity that will be fast tracked

by a super congress that appears to be designed as a super cat food commission.
only half of the "agreement" will even be available for viewing and will be decided behind closed doors, I fully expect any silver linings will be mined for the wealthy in this second part of the "compromise"

[McCamy Taylor]

4. K&R for accuracy (unlike the other post about the ABC article).

Could be rumor though.

[HankyDubs]

5. 2012 campaign commercial

Obama cut medicare! The rest writes itself. And it's not wrong either.

[aquart]

7. And that is EXACTLY what the Republicans wanted.

How stupid do you have to be to fall for it?

[rfranklin]

10. Rep. Frelinghuysen of NJ has an editorial claiming Obama slashed medicare...

in the Daily Record of Morris County. The propaganda is already being catapulted.

[haikugal]

6. Any hit on Medicare is too much!!

It should be taken OFF the table.

[Divernan]

8. The link's description was of all cuts, NO revenue increases

Big win for the wealthy. Potential and probable major losses for health care providers, which will of course have disastrous results for medicare/medicaid recipients.

W8tliftinglady posted a thread just a few days ago about a double digit cut, IN ONE YEAR, to skilled nursing facilities from the Obama administration's Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. They did this through administrative "rule making".

When Obama's supporters sanctimoniously instruct others of us that Obama would NEVER cut SS/Medicare payments or services to recipients, but ONLY would cut funding to providers - THIS is how that translates. An 11 percent cut, in one year, to skilled nursing facilities? Well, I guess they could leave the patients totally unattended for 3 hours each day. How dare we progressives object, as long as Obama can keep extending those Bush tax cuts and throwing trillions away on drone attacking assorted Muslim 3rd world countries w/oil?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

w8liftinglady Donating Member (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-29-11 06:32 PM
Original message
CMS Will Cut Skilled Nursing Facility Reimbursement


CMS announced in a final rule that it will cut Medicare skilled-nursing facility pay by 11.1%, or $3.87 billion, in fiscal 2012, a move strongly opposed by the SNF industry.

The CMS cut the payments to claw back estimated increased reimbursement in the current fiscal year that resulted from unintended changes in SNF Medicare billing for therapy, which had followed changes in how Medicare paid for therapy. The CMS in the rule said that it has recalibrated its payment structure, enacted through what it calls resource utilization groups, or RUGs, to correct the incentives that led to billing for higher-cost therapies.

CMS also tightened the rules for SNFs in the timing of allocating group therapy, to also reduce future overbilling.

“We are appalled that the (CMS) chose to implement an 11.1% across-the-board rate cut for skilled-nursing facilities in one year,” said a statement from not-for-profit nursing home association LeadingAge. “We believe that any across the board cut is unwarranted and problematic, and one of this magnitude is unprecedented.”

The fiscal 2012 recalibration reduced payments by $4.47 billion or 12.6%, but that change was partially offset by the update of 1.7%, or $600 million, according to the CMS. The update reflects a 2.7% inflation increase and was reduced by 1 percentage point through a productivity adjustment mandated by last year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act


Read more: CMS to cut skilled-nursing facility pay - Healthcare business news, research, information and opinions | Modern Healthcare http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20110729/NEWS/3...
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http://ready-tv.com/?p=109

[Autumn]

11. Defense can take a bigger hit. They are so bloated it

won't matter. A hit on Medicare is going to hurt.