President Bush’s FY2008 budget proposal includes more than $100 billion in reductions to Medicare and Medicaid over five years.  The Medicare reduction would include $30 billion in cuts targeted at hospital services, with cuts coming from a range of services, including inpatient and outpatient payment updates, rehabilitation facilities, and bad debt payments. For Illinois, the Medicare cuts alone would negatively impact hospitals in the state by $1.2 billion over five years.

The President’s budget proposal also calls for billions of dollars in Medicaid reductions that would come on top of the almost $4 billion in regulatory cuts proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in January.

Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) asked their colleagues to sign a letter (click here) urging Senate Budget Committee leaders to reject efforts to cut hospital Medicare and Medicaid funding in the FY2008 budget. A total of 41 Senators signed the letter. IHA thanks Senators Durbin and Obama for signing the Lincoln/Roberts letter opposing the proposed cuts.

On the House side, a similar letter was circulated (click here) by Reps. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Phil English (R-PA) asking the House Budget Committee to protect access to hospital care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The Neal/English letter gathered a total of 213 House signers.

IHA thanks the following members of our Illinois Congressional Delegation for signing the Neal/English letter: U.S. Representatives Bobby Rush (D-1), Dan Lipinski (D-3), Gerald Weller (R-11), Jerry Costello (D-12), Judy Biggert (R-13), Donald Manzullo (R-16), Phil Hare (D-17), and Ray LaHood (R-18).

Separate letters were also circulated in Congress to oppose CMS’ proposed rule to cut Medicaid. A Senate letter opposing the CMS proposed cuts to Medicaid was circulated by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) (click here). A similar letter was circulated in the House by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY), urging key committee leaders to move legislation to prevent CMS from proceeding with the proposed rule (click here).

Despite opposition last year from more than half of the members of Congress, CMS bypassed Congress and proceeded with its proposed rule to limit payments to public hospitals to 100 percent of cost and narrow the definition of government provider, resulting in estimated national cuts of $120 million the first year and $3.97 billion over 5 years.

For Illinois, limiting Medicaid reimbursements to cost would have a major impact on certain Illinois public hospitals and the Cook County intergovernmental transfer (IGT) program. The Cook County IGT program is a vital part of the financial structure of the state's Medicaid system, ensuring access to health care services for thousands of low-income, elderly, and disabled people throughout the state.

Senate: Durbin/Dole letter - IHA thanks Sen. Durbin for his leadership in circulating this letter opposing the proposed CMS rule to cut Medicaid and we thank Sen. Obama for his early signing and support for the effort to block the rule. The Durbin/Dole letter has 43 signers to date.

House: Eshoo/King letter opposing CMS Medicaid cuts. IHA thanks the following Reps. of the Illinois Delegation for signing the Eshoo/King letter: Representatives Bobby Rush (D-1), Jesse Jackson (D-2), Daniel Lipinski (D-3), Luis Gutierrez (D-4), Danny Davis (D-7), Melissa Bean (D-8), Jerry Weller (R-11), Jerry Costello (D-12), Judy Biggert (R-13), Timothy Johnson (R-15), Don Manzullo (R-16), Phil Hare (D-17), and Ray LaHood (R-18). The Eshoo/King letter garnered 213 signatures as of March 12.

IHA urges our Congressional Delegation members to continue to fight against cutting Medicare and Medicaid throughout the budget process.