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Congress Rejects Medicare, Medicaid Cuts
By Raju Chebium, Gannett News Service via Cherry Hill Courier Post
March 14, 2008
Congress has rejected President Bush’s proposals to scale back spending on Medicare and Medicare, an indication that New Jersey hospitals may not need to reduce services or close to stay in business.
With about half of the state’s 78 full service hospitals operating in the red, the New Jersey Hospital Association said the state could see reductions totaling $2.9 billion over five years if the White House’s proposals become law.
The proposals were unpopular with congressional Democrats and Republicans, who lobbied against the proposals Bush outlined in his fiscal 2009 spending wish list. But Congress controls the federal purse strings.
Early this morning, the Senate voted 51-44 largely along party lines to adopt a spending blueprint for next year. Both New Jersey senators, who are Democrats, voted for it.
The House voted 212-207 on Thursday to adopt its version of the blueprint. Mirroring the broader partisan split, all seven New Jersey Democratic congressmen voted yes while all six GOP members voted no.
Democrats say their spending blueprints would balance the budget in a few years and help the struggling economy by increasing spending on education, health care and other areas. Republicans argue the Democratic plans would raise taxes by preventing Bush's tax cuts from becoming permanent beyond 2011.
The House and Senate plans are non-binding. Congress will write the actual budget for next year over the next several months. But these so-called budget resolutions reveal Congress’ priorities for next year and set the funding ceilings for federal programs and services.
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