The federal deficit commission's plan to cut healthcare and many other expenses from the federal budget won endorsements from 11 of the commission's 18 members, more than expected but three votes shy of the number needed for passage, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The bipartisan commission's controversial proposal would cut nearly $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade. Its healthcare proposals include replacing the automatic Medicare physician fee-cut, cutting teaching hospital payments and putting hospitals under the new payment advisory board. It also calls for tort reform, moving more aggressively with accountable care organizations and expediting state Medicaid waiver applications.
Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming and co-chair of the commission, had said that even if the plan didn't get enough votes from the panel, it would still influence the national debate on reducing the deficit. President Obama said he would consider the recommendations for inclusion in his agenda for 2011.
Read the Washington Post report on federal spending.
Read more coverage on the deficit commission:
- Federal Deficit Panel's Draft Report Includes Fee-Fix, Cuts for Hospitals
- Federal Debt Panel Proposes 20 Major Cuts for Hospitals, Physicians
- Separate Deficit Panel Releases Report, Pushes More Costs Onto Medicare Beneficiaries
The bipartisan commission's controversial proposal would cut nearly $4 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade. Its healthcare proposals include replacing the automatic Medicare physician fee-cut, cutting teaching hospital payments and putting hospitals under the new payment advisory board. It also calls for tort reform, moving more aggressively with accountable care organizations and expediting state Medicaid waiver applications.
Alan Simpson, former Republican senator from Wyoming and co-chair of the commission, had said that even if the plan didn't get enough votes from the panel, it would still influence the national debate on reducing the deficit. President Obama said he would consider the recommendations for inclusion in his agenda for 2011.
Read the Washington Post report on federal spending.
Read more coverage on the deficit commission:
- Federal Deficit Panel's Draft Report Includes Fee-Fix, Cuts for Hospitals
- Federal Debt Panel Proposes 20 Major Cuts for Hospitals, Physicians
- Separate Deficit Panel Releases Report, Pushes More Costs Onto Medicare Beneficiaries