Medicare, Medicaid cuts could amount to $240B over 10 years

The American Hospital Association expressed dismay following an address President Obama gave this past weekend discussing proposed White House federal payment cuts that could amount to an estimated $240 billion loss for Medicare and Medicaid, according to Modern Healthcare.

Overall savings would amount to $313 billion in federal payments that would have a significant impact on hospitals and other care facilities within the next decade.

Obama's budget chief, Peter Orszag, talked about the cuts with more specificity last Friday, citing that $110 billion could be saved by "incorporating productivity adjustments into the way Medicare pays providers; $106 billion more could be saved by cutting government subsidies for hospitals that treat uninsured patients; $75 billion could be saved by re-figuring Part D prices; and $22 billion could be saved through payment adjustments called for by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission."

"Hospitals support reform that lowers costs and improves care for patients," AHA spokeswoman Alicia Mitchell said. "However, we're disappointed to see cuts of this magnitude to hospitals, especially during these tough economic times."

All of this is part of Obama's broader effort to completely overhaul healthcare in the United States, which already has met strong resistance on several fronts.

To read more about the proposed cuts:
- check out this Modern Healthcare article 

Related Articles:
AMA opposes government-backed healthcare
Americans see need for immediate healthcare reform
Commonwealth Fund calls for massive healthcare reform