What Kind of Health Care Legislation Will We Face Next Year?February 2008
President Bush on Monday released a $3.1 trillion fiscal year 2009 budget request that would reduce Medicare spending by $178 billion over five years, leading everyone to wonder exactly what the
health insurance situation will be for the winner of this year's presidential election.
Over 10 years, the budget request would reduce Medicare spending by about $560 billion. According to the
Kaiser Daily Report, a senior Democratic congressional aide estimated that at least $115 billion of the reduction in Medicare spending would result from decreased reimbursement to hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies, although "hospitals and other providers in traditional Medicare would face the sharpest cuts."
Now the real question is, what kind of
health care system will we have after making such drastic cuts to hospitals and nursing homes? And, will these cuts impact health insurance premiums too?
One group, veterans, will definitely have a harder road ahead of them in 2009. Bush's budget request would also reduce funds for health care programs for veterans, and would increase health care fees for non-disabled veterans to raise an additional $2.1 billion in revenue over five years
Not surprisingly, Democrats and Republicans are split in their response to the budget. It received "condemnation from House Democratic leaders for continuing 'failed' policies and praise from Republican leaders for starting the annual conversation in a fiscally sound manner."
Facts on:
Health Insurance Challenges
Did you know...
Over 10 years, President Bush's new 2009 budget request would reduce Medicare spending by about $560 billion?
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But everyone agrees that the budget crunch of today will definitely impact the health insurance of tomorrow. Democrats who support universal health insurance would have a very difficult time paying for it, insinuating that the market isn't going to change as drastically as we would like.
Which also means that consumers need to keep shopping around for the best coverage they can find today, and hope that the situation only improves in 2009.
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