Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report raises doubts over Medicare savings claims in Democrat Healthcare Bill

CMS report raises doubts over Medicare savings claims

By Alexander Bolton - 01/09/10 04:46 PM ET

Senate Republicans have seized on a new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calling into question some of the savings Democrats claim would result from healthcare reform.
Most significantly, the report finds that national healthcare spending would increase slightly as a result of legislation passed last month by the Senate and questioned whether the legislation would achieve as much savings from Medicare as Democrats predict.

The CMS report estimated that national health expenditures would increase by $222 billion or 0.6 percent from 2010 to 2019.
The Senate plan purports to achieve $483 billion in Medicare savings over the next 10 years, including $118 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage plans, a program favored by Republicans that distributes Medicare benefits through private providers.
Richard Foster, the chief actuary at CMS, raised doubts about whether a significant number of healthcare providers could remain profitable if the proposed Medicare cuts went into effect. More>>