The Senate is scheduled to vote this week on a budget package that includes cuts to both Medicare and Medicaid. The spending bill that is likely to pass is nowhere near as far-reaching as some observers had feared. Moderates led by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) appear to have prevailed and secured a compromise that will leave programs for beneficiaries largely untouched, instead channeling cuts toward pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies and insurers. The bill before the Senate is in sharp contrast to the version approved by the House, which specifies higher co-payments for Medicaid beneficiaries and allows states much wider latitude in determining cuts.
- see this article from the Boston Globe