http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20076960-503544.html
July 5, 2011 3:53 PM
White House reportedly offers cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, in deficit talks
By
Lucy Madison
Amid ongoing efforts to work out a deal to raise the debt ceiling, the
New York Times reports that the White House is offering up tens of
billions of dollars' worth of reductions in Medicaid and Medicare
programs - if Republicans agree to increase tax revenues.
Cutting short their Fourth of July recess, senators returned to
Washington on Tuesday in an effort to reach a deal on reducing the
deficit, without which Republicans have said they will not vote for an
increase in the debt ceiling.
And while CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante
reports that there are currently no talks scheduled between
congressional Republicans and the White House to discuss the deal,
negotiators appear to be working on a proposal that would cut funds
from Medicare and Medicaid without majorly [sic!] overhauling them or
imposing direct new costs on beneficiaries.
The Times says Republicans and White House negotiators "had reached
substantial agreement on many cuts in the growth of Medicare... and
Medicaid" before the talks imploded 12 days ago, and that those
proposed cuts will still be on the table during discussions this week.
"Negotiators said they were seriously considering cuts in Medicare
payments to hospitals for uncollectible patient debt and the training
of doctors; steps to eliminate Medicare 'overpayments' to nursing
homes; a reduction in the federal share of some Medicaid spending; and
new restrictions on states' ability to finance Medicaid by imposing
taxes on hospitals and other health care providers," according to the
Times.
However, that deal is apparently contingent on Republicans agreeing to
increases in tax revenues - a move that the GOP has staunchly opposed
since the beginning of the talks, and which has by most accounts
proved the cause of the current standstill in negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the United States has
until August 2 to raise its statutory limit on how much money the
United States can borrow. The U.S. reached its $14.3 debt limit in
May, but the Treasury Department is using what it has described as
"extraordinary" accounting measures to run the government in the
interim. White House officials have said recently that Congress needs
to reach a deal by July 22 in order to meet the August deadline. Some
Republicans, however, have questioned that deadline.
Republicans and Democrats alike have warned against pushing up against
the July deadline.
"We are running up against this deadline," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex.,
said on "Fox News Sunday." "And they're going to try to present it as
a fait accompli; nobody is going to have time to read it or consider
the implications of it, and it's going to say you have to pass it or
the economy is going down the tubes. That's just irresponsible."
On CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick argued
that "the hard right" in particular was acting irresponsibly in the
debt limit talks, and that their playing political "brinksmanship"
with the economy was inappropriate.
"The full and faith credit of the most important and the largest and
most prosperous economy in the world is important," Patrick told CBS
News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer. "And the notion
[of] playing brinksmanship with it, as some in the hard right seem to
want to do in Washington, is irresponsible."
Still, neither side has yet proved willing to cave on the issue of tax hikes.
According to the Hill, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
reached out to President Obama on Tuesday to "get together and talk
about what's actually possible."
McConnell made a similar invitation last week, which White House press
secretary Jay Carney apparently declined on the basis that the GOP
definition of "what's possible" failed to include tax increases.
"We know that position," Carney said on Thursday during his press
briefing. "That's not a conversation worth having."
--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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