Take a stand against sequestration cuts
by Kent Bottles
Anyone who cares about hospitals and health and well-being of Americans should contact their congressmen and senators of both parties, and demand they solve the problem of sequestration cuts before they go into affect March 1. It is disturbing that many of our leaders in Washington, D.C., appear to think such cuts are inevitable and unavoidable.
It also is worth remembering that Congress created this mess, and Congress can get us out of it.
In August 2011, Congress approved the Budget Control Act that directed the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years. The Joint Committee, composed of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, failed to reach agreement on targeted cuts and so the sequestration cuts were triggered automatically.
Remember the automatic cuts were thought to be so severe that nobody in their right mind would let them go into effect.
Merely listing the healthcare cuts that will kick in March 1 unless Congress acts indicates how devastating the result will be:
Medicare cuts totaling $11 billion
Hospital Medicare reimbursements dropping $5.8 billion
Prescription drug benefits for seniors cut by $591 million
Food and Drug Administration budget reductions of 8 percent ($318 million)
National Institutes of Health research cuts of $2.5 billion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget cuts totaling $490 million
Indian Health Services reductions of $365 million
Substance ...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
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