Scenarios: Deficit panel talks loom for Medicare, Medicaid

[cbayer]

David Morgan
Reuters
1:12 p.m. EDT, August 16, 2011


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government's soaring healthcare bill will be high on the agenda of Congress's new deficit-cutting "super committee," which has been assigned the task of finding by November 23 at least $1.2 trillion in savings.

Few major structural changes are expected for the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs given the time constraints.

-snip-

The committee, formed this month under the last-minute debt-ceiling compromise between Obama and Congress, is far more likely to seek narrower but tangible results, according to analysts, former policymakers and congressional aides.

Committee members have said they expect to work from existing proposals from independent groups, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Obama's 2010 bipartisan deficit commission and others.

more at link, including speculation on various scenarios and outcomes.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/sns-rt-us-usa-debt-healthcaretre77f4y20110816,0,5797144.story

[MineralMan]

1. I think there's going to be a lot of speculation on all this.

I have no idea what will actually happen, or even if they're going to be able to come to any sort of agreement. It may just be that the automatic stuff ends up happening, including the cuts to defense. Personally, I think that cutting defense heavily is one of the best possible outcomes. I'd still like to see all our foreign bases that don't actually defend anything closed permanently. I don't know how much that would save, but it would be substantial. Combine that with leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, and most of the problems would be solved.

It's a pity that stuff isn't "on the table."

[frebrd]

2. "they expect to work from existing proposals from independent groups"

Let's see......would that be lobbyists?