At the same time, a bipartisan bill preventing a federal government shutdown until the end of September passed the House of Representatives in a 318-109 vote and will go before President Barack Obama to sign next week. The $85 million in sequestration cuts, including to Medicare, would still be active.
The House budget resolution, if made law, would achieve $2.7 trillion in savings through reducing healthcare funding through medical tort reforms, boosting means testing for Medicare’s outpatient and prescription drug coverage under Parts B and D and axing the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which would be tasked with making binding recommendations to cut Medicare spending to meet reduced growth levels.
The resolution also sets up a funding reserve to replace the sustainable growth rate cuts to physician Medicare reimbursements, and in 2024, Medicare would begin to offer workers under 55 an option to receive a voucher to subsidize private plan premiums or stay on traditional fee-for-service Medicare through a new Medicare exchange. Medicaid would become a block grant to states and save the program $756 billion over the next decade.
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