Medicare – a vital lifeline for millions of America’s seniors – is on a path to insolvency. House Republicans have put forth a positive plan to save and strengthen the program that makes no changes for those in or near retirement age while ensuring future generations have greater health care choices. This positive message of reform that we are taking to the American people stands in stark contrast to President Obama’s health care law which raids Medicare to pay for a new health care program.

On July 24, 2012, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation provided an updated estimate of the budgetary impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A previous analysis by CBO predicted that PPACA would cut Medicare by about $500 billion. However, the most recent analysis predicts that once fully implemented, PPACA will have cut the Medicare program by over $700 billion. This number is comprised of cuts from many parts of Medicare:

·         $294 billion in payment cuts to hospitals, including DSH (disproportionate share hospital)

·         $156 billion in Medicare Advantage cuts

·         $39 billion in cuts to skilled nursing

·         $17 billion in cuts to hospice

·         $66 billion in cuts to home health

·         $33 billion in cuts for all other provider services in FFS Medicare

·         $111 billion in cuts from IPAB and other Medicare provisions

As a result of ObamaCare, the cuts to the Medicare program amount to $716 billion overall. The cuts to Medicare Advantage will affect one-in-four Medicare beneficiaries who rely on the program. Medicare’s own actuary predicted enrollment in MA could decrease by as much as 50% by 2017. According to the 2012 Medicare trustees report, many hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies are all expected to operate at a loss or go bankrupt in the near future. Furthermore, the trustees have stated that these cuts to the Medicare program are unsustainable and Congress will likely have to step in to correct them – making the bill even more costly.

All offices may review CBO’s updated analysis of the President’s health reform law: http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43471-hr6079.pdf.