March 5, 2008

Congressional Majority Signs Letters Opposing Medicare/Medicaid Hospital Cuts

261 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 69 U.S. Senators, including 18 members of the Illinois delegation, responded to hospitals' concerns by signing letters urging Senate and House budget committee leaders to protect access to care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries by rejecting proposed cuts to hospital services in FFY2009 budget resolution.

IHA thanks the following members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation for their support and urges their continued support for Medicare and Medicaid throughout the budget process.

Senate - Signed the Lincoln/Roberts Budget Letter: (click here for a copy of the Lincoln/Roberts letter)

• Illinois Signers
  Sen. Dick Durbin
  Sen. Barack Obama

House - Signed the Neal/English Budget Letter: (click here for a copy of the Neal/English letter)

• Illinois Signers
  Rep. Bobby Rush
  Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
  Rep. Daniel Lipinski
  Rep. Luis Gutierrez
  Rep. Danny K. Davis
  Rep. Melissa Bean
  Rep. Jan Schakowsky
  Rep. Mark Kirk
  Rep. Jerry Weller
  Rep. Jerry Costello
  Rep. Judy Biggert
  Rep. Tim Johnson
  Rep. Don Manzullo
  Rep. Phil Hare
  Rep. Ray LaHood
  Rep. John Shimkus

IHA and member hospitals joined in a national effort to help ensure Medicare and Medicaid protections.  IHA targeted advocacy steps included membership advocacy alerts and grassroots email/letter writing campaign; letters to delegation members, including IHA estimates of state and district impacts; follow-up e-mails and Hill meetings with health care legislative assistants.

Background:
President Bush’s FFY2009 budget proposal calls for nearly $200 billion in proposed Medicare and Medicaid reductions over five years, with more than $135 billion targeted at hospitals. For Illinois health care providers, Medicare payment cuts alone would total an estimated $383 million in FFY2009 and nearly $4.5 billion over five years. Click here to view IHA’s estimate of the impact of the President’s proposed Medicare cuts on Illinois.

Hospitals already are under pressure to meet the challenges of caring for rising numbers of uninsured, keeping pace with the costs of new drugs and technologies, labor shortages, and readiness to respond to both natural and man-made disasters. When coupled with an economic slowdown, these pressures intensify, making it even more vital for Congress to keep a strong commitment to Medicare and Medicaid – and to the million of seniors, children and disabled for whom these programs are a health care lifeline.

With all these factors in mind, hospitals enlisted members of Congress in signing letters to their respective Budget Committee leaders, urging them to reject cuts to hospital services.  But this is just the beginning of the budget process, and hospitals must remain vigilant throughout the legislative year and continue urging our members of Congress to protect  Medicare and Medicaid and to reject cuts in hospital services throughout the budget process.